The Portland daily press., 1880-07-26
ellers," said he, in the same drowsy voice as

"Of course it does. What sort of travel.
Ter are you that does not know that much,
and if you wanted wise, it's the Italian
should give it, and there's no Italian OF
Frenchman here. There's no one here but a
Prussian, Strantopsky-d-- his eyes
good morning. and he again turned his
face to the wall. 1 cannot say what curl
Csity prompted me to conti0ue our little
promising conversation, but there was
something so strange in the mans manner
at Notwithstanding that seemed to in
dictate very different condition from the
present-that determined at all hazards to
linger on.
II don't suppose the sight Of country
man can be very common event in thes e
regions" said l, land l might almost Hope
it was not an unpleasant one"
who told YOU that, my good fellow"'
said he, with more animation than before.
"Who said that it gave me any particular
| pleasure to see one of those people that re-
| minds me of other times and very different
| habitsH'
Sat all events I, as an individual, cannot
open these ungracious recollections, for |
never saw you before-I do not even now
know your name"
"The f. o. list has one whole biography.
Thomas Gardner Lydyard, educated at al
| Souls, Oxford, where he took first class in
l
the Second Life Guards, 9th -. Is:
sent with Lord Raycroft's mission to Den
mark to invest his Christian Majesty with
the insignia of the Most Noble Order of the
Gsrter. Contested Manchester -, IS
tsand was returned on petition. I'll finish
what's not in the bool-backed Queen Nab
at seven to two-got regular cropper-had
to bolt and live three years in Sweden-took
to corn brandy and strong cavendish and
l Ial nt Tc
that brilliant ending for youth Of prom
Use? Do you remember i'll your experience
as man of travel that you can match it?''
By this time he had risen to a sitting pos
ture, and, with his hair rudely pushed back
by his hands, and his face grown red with
passion, looked as fierce and passionate as
high excitement could make man.
''Pve heard your name very often" said
l, calmly; "Close and St. John used to talk
saying you were the best rider of fat-race
among the gentlemen of England"
Il was better, ten times better across
country. could get more out of my horse
than any of the so-caled steeplechase rid
ers; and, as | was seldom punished, the bet
ting men never knew when my horse was
distressed. Close could have told you that.
Did he ever tell you that | was the best
cricketer at Lords? What's that % cried
he suddenly, as a small door at the end of
the room opened and closed again almost
instantly. sob, it's dinner l suppose if |
had any shame l should say luncheon, for
it's only two O'Clock, not to say that the
meal itself will have small pretentions to be
| called a dinner. Will you come and look at
it ?"
There was nothing very hearty in the in
vitation, as little was there any courtesy ;but
| the strange contrast of the mans shabby eX-
l. IL e
had burst out to speak, excited an intense
curiosity in me to see more of him; and
though was not without some scruple as to
| my right to be there at all, followed him
| as we walked into the inner room.
| A young girl, whose pale, careworn face
and gentle look struck me more than the
elegance of features 1 afterward recognized,
curtesied slightly as we entered
| ga distressed B. S., Marion," said the
| consul, introducing me; my daughter, sir
| Pm not aware of your NAME"
'Lowther."
'Lowther, then-Mr. Lowther, Miss Lyd-
| yard; that's the regular form l believe. Sit
| down and let ur have our soup;" and as he
| spoke he proceeded to ladle out smoky
| compound in which rice and fragments Of
| lamb were freely mingled.
"This is all you will get for dinner, Mr.
| Lowther, and so secure what solids come to
your share; and here is such wine as we
drink here. 1t comes from Patras, and has
| its fine flavor of resin"
ate and drank freely, and talked away
| about the place and the people, and at last
| induced my host to speak of himself and his
own habits. He fished and shot, he said
| some years before he had given up
| both; he also had an Arab nag OF two, but
| he sold them-in fact as time wore on. he
| had abandoned everything like pastime or
| amusement, and now droned SWAY life in a
| semi-stupor, or between gin and sleep.
"Capital fellows these Albanian brutes
| for letting man have his way. No one
asks how you live or with whom. The hogs
| in a sly are not less troubled with public
| opinion. Except once that the pasha sent
| me an offer for Marion, | don't know that
have ever had state communication since
| l took up my post"
The young girls face flushed crimson,
| bnt she never spoke, nor had yet heard
| the sound of her voice.
"My Russian colleague" continued he,
| with savage laugh, grew half terrified at
the thought of my influence here if my daugh-
ter became sultana, and got some fellow
to write letter in a Paris newspaper to de-
| nounce the British intrigue, and declare
that had become Mussulman and the
+. o. people wrote out to me to inquire if it
were true, and l replied that, as / had not
| owned hat for five-and-thirty years, wore
turban when 1 went out, but as that was
| an event that didn't happen more than
twice or thrice year, they needn't mind it,
| I'd not go out any more.
| After that the official fellows, who
| seemed to have forgotten me before, never
| gave me any peace-asking for returns of
this and reports of that How many pias-
tres the pasha gave his cook-how many
kids went to a pilaff-how many wives to a
small harem-what was the least man
could live ON in the English service-and
whether keeping men poor and on the prowl
was not sure measure to secure thema
an inquiring and inquisitiye disposition.
take it, they must have liked my des-
patches, for not a month passed that they
did not poke me up. At last there came
young fellow this way; he was on walk
down to Thessaly, he said, to see Mount
Olympus; ne hurt his foot, and he stayed
here several weeks, and he wrote them
despatch in my name, and said What a stun
ming fine thing it would be to make all this
country and the Epirus Greek; and that we
should checkmate the Russians by erecting
a rival state and orthodox church, and |
don't know what else. He got his Greek
theology from Marion, here-her mother
was from Attica-and he made believe that
he knew all the dogmas.''
l stole look at Marion, but as quickly
withdrew it, for she was deadly pale, and
looked as if about to faint.
s'Marion knows" continued he, call the
fire reasons he gave for the policy, and how
it was to be COMPOUNDED with what the
Greeks call the grande idee-no Byzantian
renaissance humbug at all. but some sort of
protectorate state, with England, France
and Italy, l think, as the protecting powers;
and, in fact, he got so plausible, and quoted
such marvellous names that +. O.. rose to
the bait and asked to have further informa-
ton; but by that time he had gone away and
we never saw more of him.
The young girl rocked to and fro in her
chair, and fearing she would fall off in a
faint l half arose to catch her, when
look so imploringly sad as to go to my heart
arrested me, and l sat still, and to avert at
tention from her asked the consul some
questions as to the value of the project he
had written about.
II suppose it was about as wise as such
things generally are" continued he, cit may
have had little grain of sense somewhere,
and all its disadventures required time to
develope He was a shrewd sort of fellow
that William Hope--that was his name; he
borrowed 500 of me and he sent it back too.
and very pretty writing desk to Marion
and a box of hooks. and ba said hold oo,,,o