Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1886-11-21

done with. II we, the represenss"'o'
Of =" Bavidge & Co.," he'd any c's'%s
70 make upon them, these must os
brought forward through the usus'
| channels.
The firm, our English correspondsnss
in.srppspors informed us, va ona o.
loig Standing and repute. Inefs u"
been rumors that IL was shsky some
months before. but it bad recently 70
covered ground and enlarged its opera
tons.
To make an end Of this part Of my
story, it was plain that old Bavidge's
money had flown away to the East.
When some months later all tho claims
we had knowledge Of were made good,
and, coming through London banks
there was no way Of evading them, the
trustees considered themselves justified
in winding up affairs and making q set,
Element. Nearly all the property old
Bavidge had possessed was required to
liquidate the credits be bad received.
A mere pittance remained for Emme-
line and her mother. They had to give
I'D the villa at Chaplain, sell the furni-
ture, and 60 into furnished lodgings.
TWAS a sore trial, but the two poor
things bore up bravely. Under the
sad circumstances ] had ventured to
speak to Emmeline, and VIC we're now
formally engaged. Bot | had lost my
situation, Of course, and the new one !
presently got did not seem to justify
me in pressing my dear girl for our i'm
mediate union. We saw that we must
wait awhile.
Now, the explanation offered by the
accountant and accepted by the trustees
did not satisfy me. Bnt, Of course, |
was in too subordinate a position to
openly oppose it. Their theory was
that Bayidge had been sllured by GER
tain movements in Chinese trade then
occupying attention (; that he had been
drawn into rash speculations that be
had seen his schemes fail that he hal
made plans which had necessitated the
destruction or secretipg Of all docu-
ments relating to his speculation. The
accountant, a cynical, worldly man,
offered several hypothesis Of what Bs-
vidge had intended. Possibly his late
dealings had been Of an underhand and
compromising nature; possibly he had
meant to repudiate the claims of for
eign firms; or, more likely, he had in
tended to prepare the way for an easy
bankruptcy. What in my late employ
er's words and actions conveyed to-
tally different impression to me seemed
to the accountant only to confirm the
last suposition.
ventured to hint that there might
have been some embezzlement of old
Bavidge's money. The accountant
gave a doubtful smile. Possibly"
said be, "but We have not title Of
evidence of anything Of the kind. If
the truth were known, | dare say that
some property of his exists in the East.
But it is quite clear we are not likely
to hear anything about it. When 50
smart man Of business as Mr.. Ba-
vidge leaves no traces Of his operations
behind him you may be sure he had
good reasons for it. expect be would
have tried some deep move had he
lived; but we can do nothing else but
accept things as we find them. Pve
seen many disclosures of this sort II
the city in my time. ] can tell yoa
that, questionable as these occurrences
may seem, the explanation have ad-
vanced is the only feasible one. There
is absolutely nothing before us to lead
us to suspect that any fraud has been
committed upon Bavidge & Co."
In spite of these assurances | was
uneasy in mind. brooded, some
what morbidly, perhaps, over the whole
train of circumstances. Now that Em.
incline was betrothed, | had nearer
ard dearer interest in them. And then
| certainly was morbid in those days.
was possessed by the feeling that dark
and dreadful crime somehow under
Icy all that had passed, though | was
unable to fsthOm it. The very Guild
hall seemed to exercise a strange fasci-
nation over me ever since that night
when my old master had been carried
away to die. | used frequently to go
there and roam about the old building
and its adjuncts. Something ineXpli.
cable always led my steps there in such
intervals Of leisure as | had. And |
have since thought that the hand Of
Providence may have been in this.
One day was pacing up and down
the great hall, breeding as usual over
past events. Suddenly was tapped
on the arm and accosted by stranger.
lie wished to put some trivial ques-
tiops relating to the place we were in
Looking at him, saw man dressed
in the semi-nautical costume OF ships
captain or mate when ashore. lie was
of a very dark complexion, with jetty
hsir and eyes, and he wore rings in his
ears. lie spoke English tluently, and
tslked like well.educated person, but
he was evidently a foreigner. | was
able to give him the information be de-
sired, which related to the history OF
the Guildhall, and We dropped into
conversation on antiquarian topics, The
stranger eyincing no mean Acquaintance
with the subject. This led to our
wandering of to the museum to look
at some Of the Roman relics placed
there.
Now my mind was continually run
ming upon the memorandum marked
Vouchers Of Il, D." which | referee
to a Malay who, it will be remembered.
had once called at the office some
months before old Bayidge died, AMI
whose name was Zamat Driss. 1t wa
my private opinion that this person
could give, If he chose, much informa-
ton toward clearing up the mystery Of
old Bavidge's affairs. But all inquiry
had failed to elicit any thing with regard
to him. And then there was the ORR
entail who had sat by Bavidge's side Al
the banquet. Could he be identical
with Zamat Driss? Nothing more had
been heard Of him.
AS my new acquaintance and ! were
ascending the stairs leading to the mu-
scum it occurred to me that he was too
dark TO be the Portuguese had hith-
erto fancied him. 1t now struck ne
I he might be an Oriental, and as courte-
ously as | could | asked if such were
the case. lie replied indiflerently that
| L. o.,,o froc, C;ro.,ora Hn.a naa a