The Elk County advocate. [volume] (Ridgway, Pa.) 1868-1883, 1870-12-08

out for one or two extras, we assembled
to my rooms.
"In the hope, my dear sir, that our
friendship may be long and flourish
ing one," said my unwelc0me guest,
"allow me, as a needful preliminary, to
present you with my card"
He handed me, as he spoke, very
limp and rather dirty piece of paste
board, which he had some difficulty in
finding among his multifarious pockets,
and Oh which was inscribed the name of
Mr.. Reginald Tracy" OF course 1
could do no less than return the compli-
ment.
Dinner was served a few minutes
later, and while it was in progress the
conversation of Mr.. Tracy and myself
was of the most intermittent character.
[ gathered enough, however, to enable
me to discover that he was man of
some education, and must at one time
have mixed in superior society. By the
exercise of what knavish arts he had
contrived to forfeit the position he once
held, could not, of course, tell therein,
no doubt, lay the great secret of his life.
Poor wretch it was easy to see, from
the style in which he got through his
food, that plentiful and wholesome
meal was what he had not partaken of
for some time. At length he laid back
i'll his chair in state of happy reple-
ton. mot another morsel, my dear
boy" he said, with a benignant smile,
positively could not Let good di-
gestion wait on appetite-you know the
roct A hn,,nt,f,,l ,,,no1f D,t D.,
dence tempers the wind to the shorn
lamb And now for the pipe and tum-
bier. Ha, ha! 1 have not forgotten"
AS soon as we were fairly under way
with our first tumbltr, Mr.. Tracy broke
ground on the subject that was evil
IDENTIFY uppermost in his thoughts. eff,
,ir," he SAID, "you would favor me with
n hint as to the special class of invest
ment in which you are desirous of lay
ing out your capital, and would also
furnish me with some positive data to
work upon, | could give you the benefit
of my experience in that particular line
of procedure which your inclinations
may lead you to prefer"
"Capital three thousands line of in
vestment not decided on" 1 said.
Something light and genteel would be
preferred"
"Such as importer of wines and spir-
its. for instance Z" said Mr.. Tracy.
"That would do capitally, l dare say,
only happen to know nothing in the
world about it."
"Quite unnecessary, my dear sir, that
you should. Only find the money, and
will engage to find the brains, and to
make your fortune into the bargain"
Mr.. Tracy sighed deeply, took long
pull at his tumbler, and then proceeded
to enlighten my ignorance as 10 the va
rious method, by which extraordinary
profits might be realized, without the
slightest risk of failure, by any one who,
combining capital with brains, might
choose to appear before the world as an
importer Of wines and spirits. That
some of the methods indicated by Mr..
Tracy were several degrees on the shady
side of honesty, might at once have been
predicted from the character of the
man but he certainly had very neat
way of wrapping up and labelling his
" tricks of trade" so as to make them
look as much like genuine article as
possible.
His exhortation and his third tumbler
came to an end together.
Have you ever been in the United
States Z" l suddenly asked.
"Never, sir. As patriotic English
man, my love of travel never took me so
far from my home"
"Then you have never tasted any of
those delicious drinks which, under va
rious strange names, are so popular
among the Yankees 2"
"Once more a negative must be my
answer. But, my dear young friend, If
you will dt eide to lay out your capital
in accordance with my"
"a moment, il you please" l said.
Before going into any further business
details, what do you say to change of
tIpple? think we have had enough
of this stuff. Let me try whether l can
not brew you one of those delightful
American drinks of which 1 spoke iu,t
now. had the recipes for several of
them from an uncle OF mine, who is cap
tain of a liner"
"Just as you like, cher ami-iust as
you like he said; "though | don't
IhlIh III tICu All improvement OAl lulS uSll-
cious toddy is possible
1--WE can come back to it again, If the
other does not prove to our liking" l
said.
and not be houted for our incon-
added Mr.. Tracy, with laugh.
$50 now for this Yankee nectar of yours.
l grow thirsty by anticipation"
Two large tumblers and the various
required for the purpose
were quickly put together Last of all
went into my study, and after staying
there about couple of minutes, 1 went
back, carrying with me packet con-
tanning half-a-dozen powders, done up
in differently -colored papers. The de-
gree of knowledge had laid claim to as
a concoctor of American drinks was by
no means fictitious; and now proceed
ed to mix one after the most approved
fashion, and ended by opening one OF
the colored papers and pouring the con-
tents Of it into the tumb Bier, and then Of
fered the whole to Tracy.
But the putting in OF the powder had
evidently reused his suspicious, and, with
a polite wave of the hanI, he refused the
profiered tumbler. "After you, my dear
sir" he said. 81 really must insist on
your imbibing the frt tumbler your
self. The second will 20 excellehtly well
for me-"
"As you please" 1 sid, with shrug.
With that l proceededto drain the first
tumbler, expressing b. pantomime, as