The Sunday herald. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1866-1887, 1882-09-24

self" answered George.
"Be off with you, " said Mrs. Trcsham, in
high good humor. " IT'S 4 O'Clock. You'll
lust have time to catch the train. What is
IT, Kitty z"
A servant appeared, carrying a buG-envel-
oped missive on a salvcr. Mrs, Tresham
opened and read II.
4" From the General, my dear. He is at
Southampton, and will be home to morrow.
Goodbye, George. Set your mind at rest.
Is that all you have to give your accepted
lover, Nelly, going away for we don't know
how long I'm not looking, child"
CHAPTER II.
DEAu MIR EYrovi have hoard OF you, aud
shall bc very glad to you " you can make time to
VISIT me tomorrow between 10 ana B. Yours very
GronGE Eyrov, Fsr.
II Is hardly to he wondered at If George
Eyton who had no pretensions to the gift of
prophecy, looked forward to the interview to
which this brief note invited him with feel
| ings of unmxed joy. The events of the next
| five minutes are as dark to us unprosccnt
morals M those ola century hence. SoGeorge,
having read aud rcread the letter, and
executed fantastic pas de ioie round the
limits of his sitting room, went out to dine,
in n high state of selEgratulaton and good
fellowship with the world in general.
lie dincd at his favoritc club, "The Owls"
| which has since disappeared and left no pro
gcny. You may seek in vain for its like now
| adays, though the events | chronicle are
| barely five years old. There had been
time when to belong to " The Owls " was in
itself somewhat coveted distinction. Most
| of its members were men of decent standing
in the literary and artistic worlds. There is,
believe, u standing order of the House of
Commons (not so well kept as it might bc) to
| the effect that no member shall speak i'll OF
another. The umwrittcn law of the Associa
| ton of Owls was that each of its members
should hold and disseminate the best possible
opinion of every other member and to be an
owl meant TO have great things prophesicd
OF you by your brother birds of night. Flu
ture Poets Laureate and Presidents of the
| Royal Academy were to he found in the
smol1c-dimmed precincts of the clubhouse,
and the aurcolo Of future fame gilded the
least successful of its habitucs.
II was in II mild and not altogether una
grecable spirit of sadness that George Eyton
took his seat at his iavorte table. His visits
| to the old place were numbered and many
pleasant memories were enslrned within its
| walls. Already lowered with the affection
of the old club waiter, the dinner he ordered
on this occasion was such as TO deepen the
tender interest felt by that venerable servi-
tor in his young client, and past and future
looked doubly fair viewed through the me
dunn of bottle of choice burgundy. Pres
emily entered to him Mr.. Thomas Courtenay,
a brother owl, to whom n casual and sar-
castle reference had been made on that
evcntful afternoon, month ago. Mr.. Court
enay aspired to be a journalist He was n
young man of considerable talent, but of an
erratio temperament, which somewhat mill
tated against his success.
Hello, Eytun, where have you been hid
ing for the last month ~
:" have been to Shropshire, attending on
my uncle"
Peace to his manes,' said Mr.. CouIte
nay, and took u gulp from u soda water
glass, filled with liqid of faint golden
tnge. 81, alas, am uncleess. BY The
way" he continued, " suppose may ask,
| hear that you are engaged to Miss Boswell
Is that 80 p
81 am professionally. am to see
General tomorrow"
"Success attend YOU Fear moth m
me. retire"
"That's very good of you," Eyton
gravely.
"Not at ALL responded Mr.. Courtenay
with equal gravity "Don't mention it
And wish you the best of luck with til,
General, my boy, and all happiness"
"Thaull you,' answered George, cordial
| grasping the hand extended to him.
" What kind of man is the General p
r asked Courtenay.
60 never met him. He has been in Indi;
e for the last twelve years. Nelly-Miss Bos
| well--can only just remember him. But
think il will be all right. Mrs Treshau
. promised to blow my trumpet"
e. Charming old lady, Mrs. Tresham =
To- said Courtenay.
e Eyton assented. "And what have you
been doing since / saw you last p
A Working. hit on great idea, 4 mag
e nifcent notion, sir. The way to literary
success. Novel ideas in old forms of expires
Il sion. Novelty is what is wanted nowadays
| wrote an article to prove that great crimi
= mails are merely mistaken humorists, peopl
# with strong desire, but no capacity to b
Il funny. | supported my theory by historical
n examples: Cain, Nero, Caesar, Borgia, an
King Theebaw. Itwasa beautiful paper, tire
- Latin quotations per manuscript folio. Yo
r. wouldn't believe, if told you, the amour
Of time aud trouble spent on it. l smoke
|, n pound and Il quarter of bird eye over tn
II revision alone, and when ii was finished
:, seut it to the HcMm'nicdl Rcciew.
"Well -
"It was rejected, sir. | got it back l.
e return of post, with a note from the editc
It expressing his sorrow at his inability to us
k it, as the EcumCnicaL was not n comic paper
II "What are you going TO do tonight |?
|. asked COurtenay half an hour later, as the
|, sat in the smoking-room over the digestiv
IS cigar. " Have you any engagement 20
l. No. | was thinking of turning into OH
is of the theatres later on"
l. "Come with me instead, and I'll sho
W you something"
What is it ~
Il "Did you ever hear of elijah Short p
n "Never. What is hep
He is a temperance orator. And he is a
Il orator, too, the only one ] ever heard wi
really deserves the name. Pm going to hes
r him tonight. Come with me you won
II regret it. | heard him two years ago, whe
re | was doing that series on the East End-tl
,, series that was TO make my fortune, az
/ never came out. He's one of the most wol
derful men alive. He hasn't an III in II
IL composition, his grammar is worse than
lady novelist's, his accent is u thing
1t marvel at, and I've seen him make u crow
II of two thousand people laugh and cry f
it three hours at 4 stretch lie told the stol
ne of his own life aud Dickens never did an
O. thing finer, for humor and pathos. 1t W
down by Rotherhitle, and the place was FL
n of those hulking. 'longshore blackguards
and saw dozens of 'em crying like wome
Nc Pm not 80 sure that | didn't shed furti
tear myself, and as for laughing-my ri
7" were sore for a week after Come and he
him. There's nothing like him at any of Il
;" theatres"
he Z" He must be good, )" said Eytou, laughiu
Is I" lie has positively made Tom Courten
" enthusiastic"
"Come and hear him." repeated Court
IT. nay" " and he'll do the same for YOU"
ly "Where is this paragon to be seen p
mt "In the Brooklyn Hall, Taylor stree
w. It's only two minutes walk. You can COZ
id away il you don't care for it. Though,
you wait till Short begins, you won't lea
er, till ho has finished, promise you. And y
m can mention casually, in your interview wi
the General tomorrow, that you spent Ia
Iy. evening at u temperance meeting. Give Ii
q good idea of your general moral Lone.n