Hscraa r - ?- .- 12 THE PTTTSBUKG DISPATCH, SATURDAY. JULY 80. . 1892. THE STORY W1UTTEX FOR THE DISl'ATCU BY REGINALD BARNETT. CorTnionT, 1E92. I. &he had leceived the anxiously expected reply to lier note. It had come, not in the ordinary way by post, but had been deliv ered by a sure and discreet hand; and "tfr. "Barberini had devoured its contents with feverish eagerness. To make quite certain that she was awake and not in a dream she read it over and over again to herself. It ran thus: "Madam Your letter to hand. I shall be happy to give the professional advice and assistance you require. If yon can 'make it convenient to rail this afternoon between 2 and 4 I shall be able to devote myself to your interests without interrup tion. I am, yours obediently, ThosiaS Brcsel. "(Late Inspector, Scotland Yard.)" The address given in the letter was a rtreet near the Strand; and there was an in closure in the shape of a printed circular. This also Mrs. Barberini perused with an avidity not unmixed with a secret reeling of me. It set forth that the only accredited establishment in the city ot London for making inquiries, watching suspected per sons, tracing missingriend';, obtaining pri vate addresses, etc., was the one of which Thomas Brusel, late of Scotland Yard (25 years' experience and highest testimonials), was director. It likewise added that a feature of the establishment was its large stnfl of clever and sharp male and female detectives. "Watching suspected persons," mur mured Mrs. Barberini to herself. "Watch ing suspected persons. That's it. That's what I want done. If this man could only find out for me if he cquld only discove'r the truth and put an end to this state ot suspense. My life is intolerable. I cannot go on as I am doiiitr."" She as alone in the solidly furnished breakfast room of the commodious house near liegent's Park, which she and her hus band, Mr. Barberini, had occupied for some years. He had gone that morning to the city as usual, ana had intimated before startinc that he might not be back until late at mzlit. She felt, in consequence, tree to clispos? of herself. There was nothing Jo p'ctcnt her from slipping out quietly, as it were on a shopping expedition, and visiting secretly this Inquiry Agency, the existence of which had come to her knowledge through an advertisement in the dailv papers. Yet ehe hesitated before taking this decisive and desperate step. Was it right? Was it al together fair? Did it not betray a cruel want of trust? While hesitating, the events of the past flashed back to her memory, and served to bring her to a definite resolve. IL How was it that she had been brought to her present frame of mind? Until a short while ago nothing had occurred to break the uninterrupted harmony of 12 years wedded happiness. At 19 she had met Mr. Barberini in society. He was nearly ten years ber senior, and the son of a wealthy Italian merchant Mho had settled in Eng land and become naturalized. Mr. Bar berini was amiable, passably good looking, and not without accomplishments. He was in eery way an eligible parti; and his over tuies had been received with approval not only by Miss Hudspeth's family, but bv Iiss Grace Hudspeth herself. She was one of live daughters; and was not without a shrewd perception of the necessity of re lieving her father the manager of a bank with but a moderate income of his domes tic burdens. Cbarles Barberini had pre ntiiLi2Slf; as a tall, buxom, rosy cheeked and iaiThaired Spglish girl, sfie had found favor in tiis eyes, and a wed dini; had come of it. Stie was fond of the little dark man he was shorter than his wife by nearly half a head when she mar ried him; and the arrival in due course of a "little stranger" in the person of a daughter had strengthened the tie of affection that bound the pair together. The untroubled years had gone by. She, as the mother of the e'lrl old enough to be removed from the 7irentnl home, and to be sent lor her edu cation to the famous Ladies' Collfge, at Slnwcifs er, had matured into an agreeable English matron, with a somewhat pro nounced tendency to embonpoint, but still very handsome in a showy, conspicuous wav, anil very much admired by all with a prejudice in favor ot the massive. He, s.ivirg that his complexion was a trifle fallow or, and that his hair was streaked here and there with gray, was the same little Charles Barberini who had wooed and won her. But Yes, there was a but a big but a cloud of suspicion and doubt, that for more than a month had darkened and chilled this household. Charles Barberini, outwardly and physically the same man of happy earsagonc, had inwardly and morally ex hibited symptoms of an unexpected and dis agreeable change. He had come home one dsv moody, reserved and silent, instead of cl.crry and expansive, as had been his wont. He lntd put certain questions, thrown out certain vague hints, the exact drift of which his wife utterly failed to catch. She had caught him eyeing her furtively when he thought she was not looking his way. To Lit own knowledge he had more than once condescended to interrogate the servants as to her movements; seemingfy anxious to know when she went out, and how long she stopped away from home. Then, he was forever announcing that business would call him out of London for some days; and it almost invariably hapDened that his re turn from these expeditions would take place suddenly, before the time intimated, and without word of warning, except per haps a telegram which had a suspicious knack of arriving after his return instead ol before it. In short, Mr. Barberini's con duct was perplexing and distressing in the extreme. Violences, natural possibly to his inherited Italian temperament, but dormant during 12 years of married life, would now make their appearance. He was liable to unexpected fits ot irritability, to sudden explosions of veiled sarcasms directed at his wife. She was terribly puzzled at first; but by dint of thinking and brooding over the matter, it seemed at length that she had fathomed the bitter truth. Mr. Barberini no longer cared for Jier. He had met some one who had sup planted her in his affections. Her glass told her only too plainly that her figure had lost some of the poetry of its shape, that she was getting stout; while Charles, on the contrary, looked scarcely a day older than lie did on the iiappy day he had proposed to her. It wa: a sad thing that women should age and alter so quickly, while men retained their youth and attractiveness. Yes; that must be it. There was a woman, a younger and more inviting woman in the case, and "Mr. Barberini was lost to her. THs conviction once firmly established in her mind, Mrs. Barberini enjoyed no rest. The picture of her husband at the feet of a rival, of some nicked Delilah, haunted her unceasingly. Everything tended to sup port her belief. His restlessness at home; his frequent absences; above all, his altered demeanor. There was a time, and not t ery Jong since, wncn -wr. liaroenni nau oeen attentive to her even unto uxoriousness. He had little caressing ways of his own; little outbursts of sentimentality which the conjugal felicity ot years had not exhausted. He had a trick of inventing nonsensical pet Barnes for her. How well she remembered Itl The last one had been "Indian Boo." She had been hi "Indian Boo!" The title, to be sure, had no significance, but it had au endearing sound; and this fair lady, some what laree and turning to fat, found these kittenish sallies of her diminutive lord, these little demonstrations of an aflection which time did not impair, very sweet. Alas! She was not his "Indian Boo" now 1 A timid attempt on her part to encourage a reuewal of these sugary domesticities had been greeted with something akin to a con- OF A FACE. temptuous repulse. Yes, she was positive of it. The impressionable heart of Charles Barberini had become enslaved by new and more seductive charms. He had carried his fascinations elsewhere, and home had no lonjrer any joys for him. As a wife she had a right to'know the truth. She must know the truth, even though its knowledge should prove fatal to her happiness reduce her to the desperate extremity of separation from Charles. This man, this Director of the Private Inquiry Agency, could get to know everything, could silt the whole matter for her. She would make up her mind to visit him and secure his aid. The flashing back to memory of these painful events had done its work. Mrs. Barberini no longer hesitated. Her resolve was fixed. III. The cab which conveyed Mr. Thomas Brasel's new client to the secluded street leading out of the Strand was stopped at the turning by its occupant. Mrs. Barber ini got out, dismissed the vehicle, and walked with a fluttering heart and a timid step to the number indicated in the letter she had received. It was a discreet looking house, partitioned' oil' into business offices, and without any conspicuous feature about it She pulled at the particular bell which bore Mr. Brusel's name inscribed on a brass plate beneath, and the summons was promptly answered by a sober looking man, who respectfully invited her to walk up. She was ushered into a plainly furnished sitting room, and on lmmeuiaieiy entering it w said: "Please be seated, ma'am. the sober man Mr. Brusel will see you in a minute. Mrs. Barberini had hardly time to com pose herself and look around the apartment before a side door, till then unperceived by her, was opened and a gentleman, evidently the Director of the Inquiry Agency in per son, stepped forward making a profound obeisance. Mr. Brusel, late of Scotland Yard, where he had held the offfce of Inspector, was a portly and florid man, perhaps 50 years of age, with shrewd, twinkling eyes, a large nose and bushy whiskers. He was a person of some mark, whose official career had been highly successful. If it had been as lucra tive as it had been brilliant Mr. Brusel would have been glad to continue a servant of the Government Unfortunately, par simony in the wrong direction is a failing for which our administration is notorious; and, as an ill-paid official waxing in years, Mr. Brusel had come to the conclusion that it would pay him better to serve the public in an independent capacity. He had, there fore, resigned his post, organized a private inquiry agency of his own, and, so far, had no reason whatever to regret the step which after mature deliberation he had taken. He advanced with the ease of a man of the world, tempered by professional defer ence to a client and a naturally chivalrous feeling for the fair sex. "Mrs. Barberini, if I am not mistaken? I am the person to whom "your letter was addressed, and quite at your service." His persuasive smile soon exercised its influence. Mrs. Barberiui, horribly ner vous at first, gradually began to feel " more comfortable, and to realize that it was not so dreadful a thing after all to consult a detectie on so delicate a subject as that which had brought her there- "You may speak quite freely here, madam," continued Mr. Brusel. "Kindly regard this as a sort ot confessional. Secrets go no further than these walls. Discretion and dispatch is my motto. Discretion and dispatch, ma'am. I like to get through my jobs quickly, and to bury them once they're settled. Lord! ma'am, if I hadn't learnt the trick of forgetting all the things that have passed through my brain I should have been bursting long ago. No head would have been big enough to hold them alL" He was discoursing in this way, not be cause he was garrulous by nature, but be cause it was part ot his system to give diffi dent clients time to recover themselves while he rattled on airily, and to familiar ize them with the novelty of the situation. His plan was eminently successful with Mrs. Barberini, for she soon gained courage and commenced to explain her wishes. Mr. Brusel listened with profound atten tion. The story she told was, in substance, a recital of the doubts and tears already re corded in reference to Mr. Barberini. Her narrative was couched in guarded language; but the acute ex-Inspector guessed the whole truth after she had spoken but half a dozen words, and heard her rather for form's sake than tor instruc tion. At the conclusion of her statement he assumed a brisk business-like air. "I am to understand then, ma'am, that you wish me to have an eye kept on Mr. B.'s movements quietlj- of course," he hastened to add, ob-erving renewed sym- toms of trepidation, "very quietly.of course. Strictly on the Q. T. W! are accustomed tp that sort of work and can keep a thorough watch on people without anybody being aware ot it except ourselves. Once I put a man on Mr. B. 's track, he won't be lost sight of. I think I can guarantee that." "And he won't know, will he? asked Mrs. Barberini, anxiously. "I should not like him to suspect" Mr. Brusel indulged in a movement of the right eye suspiciously suggestive of a wink, "lteassure yourself, ma'am," he said. "It is our business to keep everything secret You want to know, without Mr. B.' know ing that you want to know, where Mr. R goes and what he does with himself. Very well, the information shall be supplied to you. And, by the way, there's a matter I ought to mention to you, and of which you are perhaps ignorant " "What is it?" asked Mrs. Barberini, curiously. "Only this," replied the ex-Inspector, with affected carelessness, "that Mr. B. him self tins thought proper to institute a watch on your movements, ma'am. You've been steadily followed I should think for some time past IV. The startling disclosure fell with the force of a thunderbolt on Mrs. Barberini "Me, followed!" she exclaimed, as soon as she recovered her powers of speech. "Me, followed! Impossible!" "Well, it may seem like that to you," said Mr. Brusel, calmly; "bnt I can assure you it's a fact. You've had a man at your heels for a good bit, I should s ay. You can take my word for it, ma'am. I know what I'm talking about" For an instant or two Mrs. Barberini was so overcome that she could not do more than clasp her hands in anguish. Then a terrible thought suddenly struck her. "But if my husband has caused me to be watched," she exclaimed, "he will learn that I have come here. Oh, Heaven! what have I donel" Mr. Brusel tmiled quietly. "Don't distress yourself, ma'am," he answered. 'iThat might have happened if you had up'plied to any one less experienced than I am. ' But I'm "too old a 'fox not to look for trans. Make your mind easy. Your visit here will remain quite a secret from your husband." "But how?" asked Mrs. Barberini, joy fully, yet still doubtfully. "It was easily done," 'replied the ex-Inspector. "You see, ma'am, our line of business obliges us to be very careful. All sorts of clients apply to us for assistance, and I don't mind telling you that before ueaung wun tnem we nice to make sure what kind of par.ies tneytare. Don't take offense, therefore, at what I am going to say. When your letter reached me I carried out my system as per usual. You have given a correct name and address some of 'em don't, and more fools tbeyl and that makes things smooth. I found ont all about you, your position in life, what family you had, how ! long you had been married, who your father was, etcetera, et cetera, lou ain l ouenaea, are you? It was all in the way of business no idle curiosity." Mr. Brusel paused and watched with pro fessional pride the effects of his remarks on Mrs, Barberini. He then continued. 'To get all these facts together it was nccessarv, of course, that I Bhould visit your neighborhood and take a peep at your house. It was then that I discovered that a watch had already been set I saw the chap one of Dupont's rneu. You may have heard of Dupont, ma'am a sort of French man at the head of another private inquiry office; a, clever fellow in his way, but don't know how to manage his men, is stingy with them, expects them to do his work for next to nothing. Well, one of his chaps known to me, of course bless you, I know the whole lot! was hanging about. I went un to him, and thinking it might be worth While, bought him over. That fellow is now in my employment He still reports himself to Dupont as a matter of form, but it's for me that he's working; aud I may add that he knows better than to plav any tricks with me. So you see you're in no danger." ' Mrs. Barberini was still too stunned by the unexpected turn of events to speak collectedly. Mr. Brusel therefore resumed: "I knew that I had a real lady to deal with; and.that's why I took the trouble and risk. I think you will give me the credit of having done the right thing for you under the circumstances." "Yes, yes," replied Mrs. Barberini, "and I am not ungrateful I am extremely obliged to you. But why should Mr. Bar berini have me watched ? You are sure it was Mr. Barberini?" "Positive," answered Mr. Brusel. "Du pont's man described him. A little dapper gentleman, dark hair and dark mustache. That answers to Mr. B., don't it 1" "Yes it must be my husband," 'mur mured Mrs. Barberini. ,"B(ut why should he set spies upon me ? What have I done to deserve such treatment?" ' "He might have 30 reasons," said Mr. Brusel. "For instance, he might have wished to make sure of your being out of the way not on his track, I mean, so as to have the coast clear. I don't say, mind, that was his motive, but it might be." This wily suggestion ot the ex-Inspector fell on good soil. "Ah, you are right!" she exclaimed. "He dreads discovery, and that is why my footsteps are dogged by his orders. But you will help me to bailie him. won't you? I can rely upon you, can't I? I have means you shall be well paid for all you do for "me, but J must learn the truth, and without delay. The sufferings I am enduring are terrible." "I am nt your service, ma'am," answered Mr. Brusel; "I can say no more. This may or may not be a difficult job. I don't my self think it will, but there's never any tell ing. In any case I'm experienced at the business, and all that can be done shall be done. I'll work for you honestly. Tom Brusel, has a reputation to keep up as a loyal man to his clients, and I don't think yo'u'll have anyreason to repent of your confidence in me. Mr. B shall be watched from to-day; and I -will find means of let ting you know all that happens without anyone dreaming of what is going on except our own selves. Leave it to me, ma'am; leave it to me and it will be all right" On the same night Mr. Barberini returned home late, as he had announced he would. Mrs. Barberini, who was very nervous and anxious, pretended to have a headache in order to conceal her state of mind. Mr. Barberini in his turn was silent and rest less, though from force of ancient habit, on hearing that his wife was suffering, he uttered a few words of sympathy, and hoped that she would soon be better. Mrs. Bar berini, however, reflected somewhat bitterly that in the old days Charles would have been hovering round her with eau de Cologne and kisses as medicaments for her ailment The next ciorning he went to the city, leaving word expressly that business would be sure to detain him beyond the dinner hour. Business did detain him, and he did not return until late. Throughout that day and evening Mrs. Barberini waited anxious ly for tidings from Mr. Brusel, butnothing came. On the following day, however, the ex Inspector sent word to her to conie if pos sible to his office. Mr. Barberini was con veniently absent, and taking a cab she drove in all haste to the Strand. She found Mr. Brusel preoccupied, and as she imagined, a trifle worried. "What has happened?" she asked.eagerly. "What have you discovered? Tell me, I am burning to know." Mr. Brusel paused, as though careful to weigh his words before he spoke. "So far, this case licks me," he said. "Excuse my slang, but I'm in a regular mix. I can make nothing of it at least in the wav I should like." "How?" inquired Mrs. Barberini, uneas- "y. "Well, I'll tell you what I've done. As agreed upon, Mr. B. was followed. Here's the result,'1 he said, referring to a note book before him. "Ten A. Ji. Drove to office in Austin Friars. Bemaincd there three good hours. At 1 o'clock walked to his club, the Imperial, and stayed there a couple of hours. Lunch, etc,, we may take it. At 3 or thereabouts returned to his office, and stopped till C:30 country and foreign post time, ma'am, as perhaps you may be aware. After that he was back to hisclub again, and never moved from it until 12 at night, when he took a cab and drove straight home. There's nothing very suspicious in all that, is there now, ma'am'' A gentleman's club is a very sale place I mean from our point of view. Xoladies allowed there, you know, ma'am." Mrs. Barberini listened with eager at tention, but was Jtoo perplexed to say any thing in reply. "But this' ain't all," continued Mr. Brusel, "I've found out that he's been doing this all along. Mr. B. has been lead ing this kind of life more or less ever since you had reason to notice a difference in his ways and habits. I've had a talk with one of the club servants it's right what I tell you." 'But what does it mean?" asked Mrs. Barberini. "Ah, that's more than I can say at pres ent," replied Mr. Brusel. "One thing is certain, however, he isn't alter any lady. Never in the whole course ot my experience did I know a man who was playing the Don Juan do it in that style. Excuse my free dom, ma'am, but business is business, and we must be straightforward." "What do you think, then?. What is your opinion?" inquired Mrs. Barberini, quite taken aback by the wholly unex pected information imparted to her. J. don t know what to tuink, answered the ex-Inspector, who was at the same time eyeing his client with a keen, penetrating glance, as though endeavoring to read her nlost secret thoughts. "It's very queer. Not at all what I expected." 'It is strange, indeed," murmured Mrs. Barberini. Then a sudden remembrance flashed upon her. "But Mr. Barberini's absences!" she exclaimed. "How arc they to be accounted for? he has been away sometimes for days without returning home at all!" "Ob, I know what he did with himself, right enough," replied Mr. Brusel, calmly. "He never left the town for one thing. He has had a room retained for him at the Hotel Metropole and stayed there." "Ah, you see!" e'xclaimed Mrs. Barberini, bitterly, yet triumphantly. "Ho importance to be attached to that," resumed the ex-Inspector, coolly. "I've investigated the whole matter.. He was quite alone at the hotel as safe there as if he had been at his club." "Are you certain?" asked Mrs. Barber ini, astounded once more. "Certaii. What with ray own inquir ing, and what I got from Dupont's man, I have made mj"selt acauainted witt every thing. As an honest man, you may rely upon what I have said." "Then Charles my husband is inno cent?" exclaimed Mrs. Barberini, joyfully. "As innocent as a babe unborn, ma'am." "You have restored me to happiness aeain," said Mrs. Barberini, squeezing Mr. Brusel's hand in an outburst ot grati tude, and with tears of joy filling her eyes. "I could haye forgiven him everything but that" J , The ex-Inspector looked at, the majes tic woman before him, and ' noticed admiringly how beautiful she was in her melting mood. He was sji im pressionable man, with a lively apprecia tion of what is known as a "fine woman." Then, presently, he came to a determina tion. "Mr. B.," fie said, "comes out of it as clean as a newly dona up shirt That's cer tain; and I'm glad of it for your sake, ma'am. But isn't there another side to the matter? Ihad not intended to sneak nfit, because it's no affair of mine. My business wus to find out all about Mr. B., and I've done that for vou. I feel, however, that you're a lady I should like to help. There's a misunderstanding somewhere in this af fair. We've been hunting for the shoe that don't pinch." "What do you mean ?" asked Mrs. Bar berini. "What I mean is, that while yon have been suspecting Mr. B of doing wrong, he has been suspecting you of the same." "Me? Suspect me?" exclaimed Mrs. Barberini. in horror. "Yes, ma'am; though of course he's quite in error I can see that well enough. But it's so. Can't you see that his conduct has been purpose-like; that he's kept away so as to give you every chance, and catch you on the hop detect you, I should sav? Du pont's man had orders to let him know at once if you received any party or went out with him. That's why he stopped at his club and at the hotel, so as to be handy if called for." ' Gracious heavens!" almost screamed Mrs. Barberiui. "Is it possible?" "Well, it's so, anyhow!" "I shall go home and speak to Mr. Bar berini about this matter. It's downright insanity that he should suspect me, bis wife!" Mr. Brusel smiled, and allowed his fair client sufficient time recover from her emo tion. He then said, "Will you let me offer a suggestion?" Mrs. Barberini nodded. "I've given this case my best attention. Until a minute or two ago I was still in doubt we have such a queer lot sometimes to deal with in our line of business. But now I'm positive. Mr. B. has heard some thing, his mind somehow has been poisoned against you. Have you any enemies is there anyone who would do you a bad turn?" "Not one that I know of." replied Mrs. Barberini, emphatically, "and Mr. Barbe rini is not the man to listen to tittle-tattle." "Then, it's as I thought there's a mys tery which wants clearing up. Mr. B. must have had some strong reason for behaving as he has done. Listen to me, ma'am; you give this thing a proper chance. Don't act hastily. Wait a few days without saying or doing anything; and in the meanwhile, I'll set my wits at work to find it all out for you." Mrs. Barberini reflected for a moment. "Perhaps it would be as well," she then said. "I will do as you advise me. My mind is at any rate relieved. As to the lest, I cau afford to laugh at it" VI The Barberini case went on for some days without any fresh or remarkable develop ment The husband was still moody and suspicious; but the wife had recovered her good spirits, and though faithful to her compact with Mr. Brusel, could not refrain from sly and amused looks at her jealous and. gloomy Charles. Remembering, never theless, what she herself had suffered, she also felt considerable compassion for the misery she now saw he was enduring. Nothing, in fact, except her promise to the ex-Inspector, and the hope that all would end presently In a comfortable and satis factory manner prevented her from having an explanation with Mr. Barberini, and in sisting upon learning from his lips what was the foundation oi'his mistrust That it was of a serious nature she felt sure. Charles was not the man to suspect his wife lightly. At length Mr. Brusel broke his silence. He sent one morning a secret message sum. mo.ning Mrs. Barberini to his office. As soon as she arrived there she saw by the triumphant expression of his. face that he had succeeded. "You have good news?" she said. "I know you have." 'I hope so," answered the ex-Inspector, beaming upon tier. "Tell me then," added Mrs. Barberini, eagerly. "It's not a question of telling you any thing," replied Mr. Brusel. "You must just he obliging enough to do something that I am going to ask you to da I will answer tor the consequences. But in the first place you hate a brother, havent't you?" "Why, of course I have," replied Mrs. Barberini, greatly surprised. "What a strange question?" , "It's perhaps not so strange as you think; He's a grown up young gentleman, isn't ha? In the bank with your father?" "Yes, that is quite correct," said M'rs. Barberini, utterly unable to understand what Mr. Brusel was aiming at "He will do spendidlv, I think. If want you to wire to your brother to come to you after his business honrs, this very atteAnoon. Then now listen, attentively I want you to get him to take you to a place tpey call the" Vallambrosa Theater." j "The Vallambrosa Theater!" exclaimed Mrs. Barberini. f "Yes, I know what you are goiyig to say. You have heard that it's net tjhe place a lady like you should visit I'm aware of that; but it is necessary you should make an exception for this once. esides, you'll be in a private Uox, and that won't be so bad. Heaps of l.Ydies go, for the fun ot the thing in a private box." "Yes; but why should I go jthe Vallam brosa Theater?" isked Mrs. Bbrberini. 'That's my little secret." Ireplied Mr. Brusel, slyly. "You'll knv why well enough after you have been there. Come, ma'am, you've put yourself in my hands, and you're surely not goincs to fail me just when I'm bringing this Matter to what I hope will be a most satisfactory conclusion? It is not much I ask of you' You will have your brother vith you tofprotect you, and that should be sufficient tar any lady." "Well, and supposing If consent to do as you wish and go to-nighft to the Vallani rosa Theater, what am A to do there?" Mr. Brusel took an Envelope out of a drawer of his desk. 'This contains the ticket for a private box" he said. "Dress yourself pretty smart; go to Vallambrosa with your brother, andsit so that you can be seen not too prominently, you know, but just so that anyone looking specially for you might catch suiht of you. I shall be on the premises .alo; and during the course of the evening (you will .see what you will see. J. d rather say no more at present" ( Toe feminine curiosfity of Mrs. Barberini was fairly roused. 'Won't you tell me what I am to expect? Won't you give me an idea, at least?" "I'd rather not, maJ'am, I want to keep it as a nice little surprise. You just carry out my instructions. Yoju won't repeat it, I assure you." J Mrs. Barberini saw that Mfc Brusel was not to be moved, and resigned herself to patience. "Very.wefll," she said, "I will show my trust in youl and do as you bid me faithfully." The telegram to red Hudspeth, Mrs. Barberini's brother, was duly dispatched, and that lively you ng spark, who had tea- sons connected with favors in the past, and favors to come, to sliow himself oblleine to nis sister, was easily prevailed upon to act as her escort. Undd the impression that she was simply influ enced by a larkish pro pensity to see for oiW in her life what a big music hall was ltke, he put on his even- ing clothes, fetched ilrs. Barberini away in a cab, and by 8:30 th box near the stage, i and on the tiptoe pair were in a private ie somewhat' nervous f expectation, he very much interested in young "serio-conii tiie penormance ot a lady singer and dancer. Twenty minutes o so passedrwithout any- thing becoming appi rent of the '"surprise" promised by Mr. Brusel. Nor, indeed, could anything be seen of that gentleman. At 9 o'clock, however, the sounds were heard of hurrying steps in the corridor leading to the box, and suddenly the door of the latter was burst open without cere mony, and in walked Mr. Charles Bar berini himself! - He was livid with rage. "So I have. caught you at last, madam," he hissed, rather than spoke. Then his eyes fell unexpectedly on Fred Hudspeth, who at the request of bis sister had keen sitting concealed at the back ot the box. "What! why, it's Fred who is with you!" he exclaimed, in a state of bewilderment The consternation into which Mrs. Bar berini and her brother were thrown had prevented them from noticing that a second person had entered the box, following close upon Mr. Barberini's heels. It was Mr. Brusel. who, perfectly calm and collected, now took the control of affairs. Stepping forward, he turned to Mr. Barberini. "Excuse me, sir, for a moment," he said; "but would you mind casting your eyes at the opposite box?" Not only Mr. Barberini, but all present, immediately glanced in the direction indi cated. The "surprise" had come. They saw that a lady bad just made her appearance there, accompanied by a stylish looking fop in irreproachable evening dress. She was the very counterpart of Mrs. Bar berini: tall, fair, showy looking, with a ten dency to embonpoint," and with a face so startling in its resemblance to Mr. Brusel's client, that one might very easily "and naturally be taken for the other, especially if seen at some distance. "That's the secret of it," said Mr. Brusel. "That's the lady who has made all the mis chief without "being aware of it She's Madame Flanka, the Hungarian opera bouffe singer, who has recently come! to England, and will shortly make her appear ance at the Frivolity Theater." The rest is easily told, for it is needless to say that Mr. and Mrs. Barberini were recon ciled on the spot; and that the little man could not do enough to prove .the return of his love for the wife he had so unjustly sus pected. She forgave him readily. He had been misled by a friend; a stockbroker, a man of unquestionable veracity and honor, who having seen Madame Flanka at a.publio resort in the company of the noble lord, under whose "protection" she moved, had left with the firm conviction that the lady was his friend Charles Barberini's wife, and had thought it his duty to apprise the de- luaeanusoanuoitlietact As lor JUr. Brusel s share in the matter, accident had assisted him by causing him to light upon Mrs. Barberini's double, and making him guess with his habitual shrewdness how the error had occurred. With the object of carrying conviction by ocular evidence, and "also with a pretty notion of artistic effect, he had arranged the scene at the Vallambrosa Theater. Mrs. Barberini is now her husband's "Poozleoozle," that being,the latest endear ing epithet of his inventinn; and Mr. Brusel is often heard to declare ,hat the case of Mr. and Mrs. B. has not only been one of his most lucrative jobs, bdYtlie cleanest thing he has ever touched during the whole course ot his career as a deteoVive. TheEn-d. CAMPAIGN pxPbics, by T. C. Crawford, In THE DISPATCH to-morrow. SHE CAN SEE AGAIN A Young Lady's Remarkable Recovery From AUnost Total Blindness, New YoRirf July 2ft Miss Dolliver, sister of Congressman Dolliver, of Iowa, was discharged from the New York Ophthalmic LJospital, at Thirty-third street and Third ayjenue, a few days ago, having experienced A somewhat remarkable restor ation to Sight, after a total blindness which had affected one of her eyes for nearly a year. It is said that only one similar1 instance is recorded in medical annals, and that was the case of Governor Lucius Eqbinson, of this State, who was af fected in the same way and was successfully treated in the same institution. Miss Dolliver about a vjear ago was open in ir a bdttle of ginger ale, the cork from which fbw out and struck her in the left eye, causing apparent slight injury but con siderable pain. She was treated by local oculistl, and it was supposed she had en tirely a-eco'vered. Some time atterward she foundilhat her left eye was wholly bereft of sigh Afjer treatment by oculists in Washing ton without success she was brought to this citj where she was examined by specialists, ami it nas found that a rupture and subse quent detachment of the retina of tho eye lifiil taken place. Miss Dolliver was kept in a recumbent finally the retina floated back and once more attached itself to the choroid. While Miss Dolliver's sight is still slightly im paired, it will probably regain its normal strength in time. The fact of the reattach ment of the retina after so long a period of separation makes the case one ot the most notable in the history ot optical surgery. Hill's File 1'omaile his wrought relief, euro and comfort to thousands of sufferers from'plles; It'is cer tainly a great medicine, or wo could not give a printed gnaiantee with each packaire. Price $1, six packages $5. By mail. For sale by Jos. Fleming & Son, 412 JIarkec aticet. s I-:ilco CIi intauqaa and Ketnrn, $5 00. Niagara Falls and return, $7 00. Toronto, Canada, and return, $3 00, Via AiXEQuniiY Valley Railway, Tuesday, August 2. Tickets good 15 days r'turninjr. 'Trains leave Union station at 8:20 A. it. and 8 50 p. ji., consisting of Eastlake coaches and Full man buffet, parlor and sleeping curs. HEAL EbTATK SAVINGS BANE, List, 401 Smltliflotd Street, Cor. Fourth Avenue. Capital, $100,000. Surplus, $75,000. Deposits of $1 and upward received and interest allowed at 1 per cent. TT3 First-Class Cheap Excursions to Kansas City Tla Prnnsylvnnia Unra, For the benefit of Knights of Pythias, their friends and the public generally, a series of vory low rate excursions will be run to Kan asCity over tho Pennsylvania lines und connections about the middle of August. Kates, ticket conditions' and details will be civen later thiough thld paper and by hand bills. TllS LOW B VTIiS TO DBrtYZR. Ausnst 2 to C, Inclusive. Tho Pittsburg and Western Railway will sell excursion tickets to Denver, Col., good to return until October 11. Very low rates from Pittsburg. It Leads Them All. For the past 40 years Lippencott's Nectar has stood at the head of the list of pure llquois, and has no equal. Connoisseurs chooso it and physiolaus recommend it lor all medical purpose". V. E. LlPPSNCOTT & CO., 943 Liberty street, Pittsburg. Oave Too a Vacant Room Ami wish a tenant fqr it? Then do ns hundreds of others have done advertise it in the To Let Rooms Cent-a-Word advertising columns or The Dispatch. Pzbtsot action and perfect health result from the use of De Witt's Little Early Kisers A perlect little pill. Very small; very sure Why allow bedbugs to feeep you awake at night when a bottle of Bugine will destroy them in a mlnnte? 25 cents. Owe dollar to Ohio Pyle and morrow. Special train leaves JJ. depot at 8:05 a. m. return to ft O. It. B. s Boom Renters aud Eoardlnj Houses Who Have Used The Dispatch's Cent-a-Word advertis ing columns under Wunted Hoarders aud Itooms To Let find It the best. "A Penny Saved Is a Penny Earned." Deposit yonr money with the Peoples Sav- ings win, si jourtu avenue.- interest al lowed on, deposits. Neolioee shirts for hot weather at James H. Aiken & Co.'s, 100 Fifth avenue. SOME PEETTY NOOKS Found by a Dispatch Commissioner on a Tonr of Western England. " IN THE DREAMFUL ALLEY TOWNS Aivay From the Maelstrom Lines of Travel, ' Among the Flills. A SERIES OP IDYLLIC SAUNTERING rCOBKESPONDEXCJ! OP THE DISPATCn. ClKENCESTER, England, July 18. One does not know a hundredth part of England even after years of travel among her historic scenes and about her countless shrines. I feel this more and more when, after tiring of grand old beaten paths, I step aside, but a step it sometimes seems, and find maze upon maze of sweet old nooks, wonderfully winsome in collective or indi vidual aspects; and these could never be exhausted, if one set out to explore for sach as these and know them never so little when found, during the natural course of a 'lifetime. It seems to me that the West of'Eneland, say the western of the midland counties, furnishes the most extraordinary number of these half mountain eeries. You need not go so far south or west as Devon and Somer set, nor even into Wales, where scenery has more the elements of wild and savage grandeur.and where the good folk who can speak English as well as you can pride themselves in making you believe they cannot speak it at all, and that Welsh was the language of Adam and Eve. Neither will you have to go so far as the lake district, which is all sublimity and hotel and posting bills; nor to Northumber land and Durham, verdureless and suggest ive of coal; nor again to Yorkshire, where the shuddering fogs flap along the grew some moors. Places or Rest and Beauty. But here in the very heart of England, where anybody that has two days' time, though be should have two months instead and two toutlegs, can come from any great English city almost as in a holiday stroll, are these myriad places of restfulness and beauty, hidden cov from the slobe trotters' lorgnettes in the glens and hollows of these midland hills, with histories reaching farther back than the time of the Saxons' first coming, with the moss of ages upon them, and yet all of them as sweet and fresh a3 the dew trickling from the loftiest grasses of Cleeve Clouds and Broadway Beacon, which stand like grim old towers above the Cotswold hills. I know the "live" American tourist is hardly worthy of himself it, having ar rived in Liverpool on Tuesday or Friday evenin?, he has not "done" Chester, dashed through Leamington, nodded in a friendly way to the painted effigy of Shakespeare, , become tired of London, glanced at Kenil worth and Warwick and swept around the lake district to Glasgow, the Trossachs, Edinburgh, Abbotsford and Melrose, in fact "exhausted Great Britain," as he naively and quite correctly puts it, before the first week has barely rolled around. A Slow Row and n Good Onr. A pleasant way to reach this lovely region is through Warwickshire. Stop a day or more at Stratford if you like, and loiter about the church beside the Avon. Then get an old boatman, mind you, an old and garrulous boatman, to row you down the historic stream. He will tell yon more about Will Shakespeare and his times than if the mighty bard had been his schoolmate. Do not let him row fast. Give him time to rest and descant upon the origin of Roman roads and barrows and cromlechs, and above all give him time for folklore tales" and bugaboos and whispered mysteries of the lordly halls high up amontr the narks and demesnes. "Sever care for be passing hours. The thatches of cottages lean everywhere along the Avon almost to its brink. You have no need for an inn. AVith your peasant companion you will be welcome everywhere at night among the peasantry. By and by vou will come to the vales among the Cots- wolds. Then you will see hamlets and vil lages dotting the valleys, imbedded in orchards, clustering on the hillsides, perched upon the heights, and all in a set ting of lush orchards, waving fields within checked lines of hawthorn hedges or denser rows of limes, and these in turn backed by banks of forest primeval; all in such dron ing quiet, ample content and smiling opu lence that, full of the winey exultation of it all. you again and again irresistibly ex claim, "Here is Arcady at last!" Tho hhndows of An Abbry Town. By and by yonr boat comes under the shadows of a gray old abbey town. Near it is Deerhurst, where kings older than Alfred worshiped. The Avon has sung itself to sleep in the bosom of the silver Severn, and there.by Olney.Canute and Ed mund Ironsides met and "divided-England between Dane and Saxon. Nearer still to the gray old abbey town is the "Bloody Meadow," where tfie War of the Eoses was decided. Back past this now peaceful scene, past old thatched cottages, bright gardens and green fields, there rises, upon the stranger's Bight a mighty silver gray old abbey. It is the abbey of Tewkesbury. It is more than 800 years old, and the Norman pillars of its dim old nave are the hugest and highest in England. Few of the English abbeys, or, indeed, of the great English cathedrals, con tain the materials of history and story which Ten kesbury possesses. Then what wonderful charm there is in "the old half timbered houses of Tewkesbury. They lean over the shadowy streets as though they had come back from a misty past to crane their necks and heads into the affairs of this bright and modern time. Here you have Chester, Bristol, Exeter and Coventry almost in one in the wealth of specimens of the oldTndor style. In the gables, .with their crowning pinnacles, in the porches, doors, mullioned windows and huge chimneys, in the overhanging of stories and projection of windows, they are no more quaint and curious than their inte riors, with their spacious, low ceilinged rooms, paneled with oak of ebon blackness, elaborately carved and ornamented, and with passages, nooks, niches, small rooms, cupboards and presses bewildering in num ber. A Pretty Plctre Parrsrrvsd. AIL of those who have read "John Hal ifax will find in Tewkesbury a closer charm than in abbey and ancient houses. Tewkesbury green was Abel Fletcher's lawn. The clematis arbor, the yew hedge and many delight's so-plensantly pictured in "John Halifax" are still carefully pre served. Dinah Mulock Craik loved old Tewkesbury passionately. She summered at Malvern, but this mellow, restful place was her affectionate haunt. Over in the huge abbey, among some of the richest and grandest ecclesiastic monuments of Eng land, there has lately been placed a fitting tablet to the memory of this good and tal ented woman. A two hours' walk will bring you to bright and glowing Malvern, set high up against the glorious Malvern hills. It is the quietest, handsomest, sunniett, shadiest, laziest inland resort in all England. Thou sands are here, but there.is no elbowing, no jostling, no hurrying. Everybody saunters, dozes, dreams. A. sense nt lazy, uncon strained enjoyment broods over the entire place aud region. The waters and the mountain air bring all the people here; but these arc not a tithe of the attractions. . A ten minutes' walk upon the hills and you are in rural England as the poets sing ot it. Fruit trees snake their blossoms or their fruit in showers upon the grass in old nooks and corners of struggling hamlets. Each farmhouse and cotter' cottage stands in its own orchard, brilliant with the sprays of pink and white, or, with balls of russet and gold, according to the season. Ilirds as riontr ri L-xvar. Chaffinches and robins are among the mosses in all these orchards. Blackbirds and thrushes are everywhere in the thick shrubberies of the gardens and in the tangled hedgerows and ' coppices. Wrens, hedge warblers and other tiny birds are in the matted grasses, by the hedgerows and by the shaded runnels in the ditches. Everywhere, too, are the irregular shaped meadows, with their fantastio nooks and corners, and their sweet rich herbage, where dairy cows and cattle ""feeding up" for the butcher pass their tranquil lives literally in clover. There is always sure to be a pretty pool under the clump of trees at one corner, or a shallow stream rippling gently alongat one side, singing its way to the valleys from the hills. , Not eight miles away are the spires and towers of a quaint old cathedral city. This is ancient Worcester, that earned Its title of the "faithful city" in the time of the Commonwealth In so valiantly holding out against Cromwell for the King. Young Charles watohed the last great battle from the Cathedral tower nntil the citizen, vain ly beating back the invaders, gave him time to make his escape. Cromwell revenged the plucky resistance uot so like a butcher as at Droghedn, but enough to leave the fair old city almost silent and deserted tor years, while only the fowls of the air gathered in its roofless and windowless Cathedral. In Worcester the old and the new touch everywhere. Interesting among that which is old are two of the most noteworthy monu ments in England within the Cathedral. One is that of King John, the earliest roral effigy in any of the English churches. -The other is the monument to Bishon Hough, of Magdalen College celebrity, whom James II. succeeded in making the English thoroughly remember. Pretty .'Vllnelln'r of Old and New. This mingling of the old and new is notably characteristic of Worcester. There are bustling streets with broad pavements and busy river wharves. There are noble bridges, big warehouses and bigger man ufactories with tall chimneys, and lone rows of brick cottages for workmen, which may possess comfort, bnt which haye a hideous sameness and dreariness aDout them. But there are broad streets, sharply turn ing odd corners and losing themselves in the queerest of lanes running up and down the hills. There are weather-stained build ings, sacred and municipal, preserved or restored, or partially rebuilt. There is one venerable fortified gateway, and another graceful media;v.il arch, while there are streets and wynds and closes with antiquated names like Forgate aud the Fryars. So, too, there are many, many timbered houses with those fine old open galleries which used to look down upon the courtyards of inns and hostelries when wagoners and cartmen liked to keep an eye on their goods and guests shouted for servants instead of ringing for them. But the quaintest, sweetest place in all the Cotswold and Malvern hills is ancient Broadway. Broadway street is its old and pleasant name, derived from that great road or trackway leading from the west of Eng land to London and the east coast, and here anciently called the "Bradweia," lrom the shepherds' "cottes on the mounted wolds down to the most fruitful vale of Eve sham." . ' ' So Change lo Five Centuries. It is one long, wide, straggling street, with a large, open, triangular green, at one end branching into two great roads.one to Chelt enham aud one to Evesham. All its houses are picturesque. Indeed, here is one of the few ancient stone built villages of olden England, left precisely as its makers built it all the way lrom 300 to 500 years ago, and without a single mark of modem "improve ment" upon it On every side are high pitched, gable roofs, with wonderful stone and iron finials, mullioned windows and bays, leaded casements, containing the orig inal glass, and huge, tall, stone chimney stacks all weathered to. most oeautifnl col ors. Low stone walls in lront enclose little old world gardens with clipped and fanci fully shaped yew trees. There are two of the quaintest inns in England here. Coaches have run to and from them, as now, for hundreds of years; for Broadway is beyond the sonnd of the railway, and the restful hostclries abound in interesting bits of detail, old oak doors and hinges, old glass and casement fasten ings and most curious chimney pieces, plaster ceilings and paneled rooms. Every house has flat headed, mullioned windows, with massive wood lintels inside and huge baulks of oak, roughly squared and molded over the ingles and fireplaces. Near the village green is the old "Grange" ot the abbots of Pershore; In an old house at one end of the village colonies of artists, some from our own country, annually come and live in what they call "Im Paradise." and from the summit of Broadway hill ot only can you study scenes blending into thirteen English shires, but hundreds of abbey barns and ancient stone farmhouses. An xamp!i to lin Emulated. In every one of the latter, tradition will tell you, Cnarles L or Elizabeth passed a night. How wise of them to do so it thev had the time. I envied them aud followed their example wherever I could, and from this mossiest of all West of England nooks took entrancing strolls to Daylesford, where Warren Hastings was born and where he died; to little Strenham, where Samnel Butler, author of "Hudibras," was born; to Chipping Campden, site of the ancient "Cotswold games" ot the time of James I., upon which Johnson, Dravton and other poets wrote, and whose rhymes were pub lished in a quaint old volume called "Annalia Dubrensia," in 1C.5G; to Winch combe, asleep by the babbling Isborne stream, with its ruin of a once famous mi tered abbey ani,its sad memories of the poisoning of the queen dowager, 'Catherine Parr; to Cleeve Prior, hung like a ne3t upon the cliffs above the Avon, and to Evesham, queen of noble Evesham vale, rising from the banks of the At on and backed bv venerable tower.antique churches and the ivied walls of its once flourishing abbey. One and all, idyllic spots and hours were these. Edoak L. Wakejian; for Infants and Children. "Castori a Is so well adapted to children that t recomiend it as superior to any prescription known to me," H. A. Aacnsit, M. D., Ill So. Oxford St, Brooklyn, N. T. 'The una of 'Castoria Is so universal and. its merits so well known that 1 1 seems a work of supererosratlon to endorse It Few am tho intelligent families who do not keep Castoria within easy reach." Cablos Uitrrnr. D. D , New York City. Late Pastor Bloomlcsdalo Reformed Church. Tms CzsTAmt WATCH CHAINS.. We will, for this week only, fell a Ladies' or Gents' Rolled Plate Watch Chain, WARRANTED FIVE YEARS FOR WEAR, at the un heard of low price ofgl.50 eac"- SIMIIT'S ., , YOUGHIOGHBNY GreenouRli Street and Gas Alley. OFFIOK. ICC GRANT ST. Youghiogheny Gas and Steam 3iroinpt service to manufacturers and consumers generally. Hills suppled NEW ADVERTISEMENT. SUMMER WHEN- THE PORES open freely is the best time to cure torturing and disfiguring humors, eruptions and diseases with the CuncTjRA Remedies. At no other time are these great skin cures, blood purifiers and humor remedies so effective. It is the season of all others to forever cleanse the blood, skin, and scalp cf impurities and hereditary ele- ments which, if neglected, may be come life-long afflictions. J W J J V 7 r Ice 1 v : k fix I I Everything about the Cuticuba Reme dies invites confidence. They are abso lutely pure, and agreeable to the most re fined and sensitive. They are adapted to all ages, and may be used on the youngest infant. The" have friends in every village, hamlet and cross-roads in the country. , People in every walk of life believe in them, use them, and recommend them. CimctntA Remedies are sold throughout lha world. Price, Ctmctnu, the great Skin Core, jo cents; Cuticuka Soaf, ascents; CuncuitA Rs solvext, the ne Blood Punfier, and greatest of humor remedies, $x.oo. Prepared by the Pottsx Dhug and Chemical CoaronATioH. Boston. " All about the Skin, Scalp, and Hair," 4 pages, 300 diyasrs. so illustrations, mailed free. CURES BILIOUSNESS. CURES BILIOUSNESS. CtJKES BILIOUSNESS. Direct Proof. Jty wife his been troubled with Liver Complaint and Palpitation of the Heart for over a year. Her ease baffled the skill of our best physi cians. After uslnjr three bottles of your Burdock Klood Hitters she is almost entlrelr well. We truly recommend roar medicine. Oeokgs V. Siiawll, Montpeller. Williams Co.. O. HEGULATES THE LIVEfl. TISlv! Onaof the creates! dls- COVPries of the cpnturv. 5tafa. speedy, lore Cure for JtbenmatlMiu. Rheumatic Gout. STnhl. Iltlr RhcnmntlnDi, Shin dUrsues and JJrop leal tendencies. All cured promptly by this remedy. It has cared hundreds, ana will ran where Instructions are followed. Purifies the blood and regulates the system. Put up in S1.0O and 2.00 bottlea. Catalogue free, with references. BURT ClIEHICAI. CO., CAMBRIDGE. O. jyzauo-s Castoria cures Colic, Constipation, Bour Stomach, Diarrhoea. Eructation, Kills Worms, gives sleep, and promotes 1 eestion, "runout Injurious medication. ; For several years I have recommended your ' Castoria, ' and shall always continue to do so as it haa invariably produced beneficial results." Edwin F. Paxdis, M. D., Tho WInthrop," 123th Street and 7th Ave, KewTorkCity. CoKPAirr, 77 MtraaAT Sibkzt, Nr Yobz. Cor. Liberty and Smithfield .and 311 Smithfield Street. Jyl7-TTSsn COAL 'CO., LTD., T. S. KNAP, MANAGER Telephone 1070. Coal. White and River Sand. with river sand. je7-74-TTi DOT MA ' L. I .,.'-- ' , . ' - ' mlmfuH
Significant historical Pennsylvania newspapers