Phillipsburg herald. [volume] (Phillipsburg, Kan.) 1882-1905, 1886-10-23

| it was possible for him to be to the
Countess Of Bareacres, not forgetting to
allude In an airy manner to his great
accomplishments in terms so vague
and casual that Lady Barsacres c0nclud-
ed that he must be a player OF the first
rank, and she accordingly asked him on
the spot to perform at her AT Home
on the following Friday.
"At lRstw thought the future under
secretary, as he went home by the last
train to West Kensingbon. "Hers 1 am
on the first rung Of the ladder now, If I
don't climb along merrily, Why, my name
is no longer p. p. P" Next morning he
sought another interview with the chief,
and impiored him to lend him the Guar
neriGs he had shown him few days be
fore.
"You see, sir, said lie, 'my own tid-
die is a brute in the matter OF tone, and
now that I've got this chance Of playing
as an amateur for Lady Barsacres ] want
TO do it well, because she could be eE-
tremelv useful to me, knowing all the Of
fetal world as she does. That Guarne-
Tius Of yours, sir, is, OF course, magnii-
cent, and 1 could get a grand tone out
Of it aud score a big success. If you
viii lend it to me- 1 Will take great care
of it, and viii return it to you on Satur-
day morning"
i'Well, replied the chief, "since you
make such q point Of it viii lend it to
yOui but mind I get it back safely on
Saturday" So Philip p. Pipps took
the matches GuaFnerius' home with
him, mounted it carefully, and on Fri
day afternoon set ont with it for No. 90
Park lane, where he found himself for
the first time in his life alone-but what
Of that ?-Hmid brilliant crowd, com
posed OF the greatest Of the grand
pschutt. Lady Bareacres was surprised
that he didn't play better, and so were a
good many people to whom she had an
nOunced the first appearance Of a distin-
guished amateur; but he played, as L
have said, very fairly, and having been
announced as an accomplished musician,
he went down, and as he journeyed from
Victoria to West KensingtOn his day
dreams were Of the brightest-so bright,
indeed, were they that, as he left the
station, he staggered and almost fell to
the ground, his hair bristled, and he
burst into a cold Precipitation.
The fiddle had been left In the train!
For at least ten minutes his horror was
such that he could do nothing; then he
began to telegraph everywhere down the
line, following himself by the next train,
and making inquiries at every station
for the missing instrument. In this
manner he spent the night, until the
trains stopped running. All he could
learn was that at the next station a man
had got out of the train with a violin
case, and had disappeared.
The following morning he sent to the
Office to say that he was seriously i'll,
and the whole day was spent in a fruit
less search for the fiddle. He dared not
advertise publicly for it, for his chief
would see the advertisement and learn
the truth. His expenditure in cab fares
and "tips' was considerably beyond his
means, and his promises Of reward were
lavish in the extreme. On the Sunday
he gave up the instrument as lost, and
set himself to- find another Guarnerius
and to raise the money to buy it; for,
knowing his chiefs character pretty
well, be felt that If the-Or rather a
fiddle were not forthcoming, his chances
Of the post he sought were perfectly at
an end.
Monday morning came and Mr.. Phil
lip POttinger Pipps went to his chief with
his story. "When he got home, to his
intense sorrow, the fiddle fell out Of the
case (the spring being out of Order),
and the fall Jared the finger board and
one Of the blocks he had taken it to be
repaired to a great German repairer
whom he knew, and who happened, very
fortunately, to be staying with a friend
in London. He had promised to put
the damage right by the end Of the
week"
Sir Dash Blank, K. c. B., W as yer
angry, but said little; meanwhile the ap
pOintment became practically a &C rtain
ty, and on the strength of it the unlucky
Pipps began borrowing from every
money lender between Regent-st. and
BOnd-st. the price Of the Guarnerius he
had to buy. He knew that any Guar
nerius, so long as it was really genuine,
would do to return, Tor his chief, not
being a real connoisseur, would not no
tics that it was a different fiddle; but,
alasI the dealer he applied 70 told him
that they were only for sale in London,
and this instrument belonged to an anna
teur who wanted eight hundred pounds
for i'll
1t was frigbtful; still it was neck or
nothing, so he scraped the money to-
gether and bought the fiddle through
the dealer. He was received with very
sour looks by Sir Dash when he took 1t
TO him, and ne had the pleasure Of being
told that his chief believed there wss
something wrong somewhere, that he
would never lend him a fiddle again,
and that had the episode occurred be-
fore he had pledged himself to support
MIR. Pipp's candidatuEe, that support
would not have been forthcoming. For
tunately, however, he did not look at the
instrument, which his subordinate re-
placed beneath the chair whence he had
taken the original.
A week later Philip Pottinger Pipps
took his place as permanent under-secre-
tary FOR the paper-fastener and i-pen
department, crushed by the reflection
that before the year was ont he would
have to pay to the Israelites, who had
assisted him In his dire distress, close
upon two thousand pounds for value re-
ceived.
The sequel is not difficult to foresee.
Messrs. Shadrach, Meshach. Abednego,
and the rest Of them began to put on the
screws. The miserable under-secretary,
having ruined his social and official posi-
ton by borrowing Of all his friends and
colleagues to pay OF what ne could OF
his (tO him) enormous Liabilities, the
Jews, having found that he had done his
very utmost to clear himself, put the
brokers into the little housa he had taken
in Victoria square. and at the sale of the