Macon beacon. [volume] (Macon, Miss.) 1859-1995, 1888-01-07

condition-that you gentlemen eect
give me q promissort note payable OF
demand for part Of the sum, the tota
to amount to the money wanted to max,
up the El,0O0. may add. by the way
l that my man is Mr.. Skumbleby, R. A.
but this is strictly in confidence"
Much surprise was evinccd ut THU
announcement, for no ono suspected
that Mr.. Skumbleby was in low watel
but there was SOME demur about Civ.
the ptomissory notes. Mr.. Mos,
was, however, obduratc on this point,
and at length the assembled knight,
agreed to it.
81 think you have got It's ont of the
difficulty very WE'LL" said Sir James.
"all we need do is to give Mr., Skum.
bleby the commission and let him gel
to work. We shall of, course, be able
to collect the balance of the f200 before
the picture is finished"
"Skumbleby will igree all right"
said his patron, land he won't take
long over the portrait. either"
MIR. Moss was right, On being dis
creetly approached, Skumbleby fell in
with the plot, after a little decent
hesitation. The poor man was much
to short of money to give any other
decision. Moreover he was not al
together his own master. and had really
no choice in the matter. The sittings
were to commence at once, and the
portrait was to be completed in two
months at the latest.
Being an exceptionally ugly woman,
Lady Grewsum, of course, insisted up.
on being painted as St. Cecilia, not
too literally clothed. after the manner
of Sir Joshua's portraits. and the hap
less r. A. was obliged to agree to her
fancy.
The work progressed rapidly, for
Lady GrewSum was Il constant, albeit,
a %fastidious sitter. and IN a month
Skumblebly was able to fix a definite
date for its delivery, A day was ac-
coriingly settled for u Primrose fete,
one of the chief features of which was
to be the presentation to her ladyship:
a Cabinet Minister was specially in
vited to speak; the usual nigger min
Strels, acrobats, etc. were engaged, and
Sir James Shircutt was selected to per-
form the task of handing over the por-
TRAIT to its recipient.
1t was not very long before tho pre-
sentation day that Mr.. Sayile-Moss
might have been seen entering a queer
dingy office in the n%cighborhood of
Hatton garden. He seemed familiar
with the place, and walked straight in
to a small back den, which was, never
theless, furnished pretty comfortably.
Here he Invested himself of his hat and
coat and sat down before a table strewn
with all manner Of documents. Pres.
emily he rang the bell.
send Mr. Sharon here" he said to
II clerk who opened the door.
Mr., Sharon promptly appeared,
"Any thing ~spccialY" queried Mr..
Moss.
"No, sir, nothing; only the usual
sort of business"
"You quite understand all about Mr..
Sknmbleby's affair, don't you? He
gets the money ON the 10th of next
month. You must act at once"
Mr.. Sharon nodded. He was a mar
Of few words. And after CHANGING rap
idly through n sheaf of bills, Mr.. Sa-
vile-Moss left the office.
The great day arrived. The lawns
of Verjuice castle were brilliant with
marques, with shooting-galleries. mer
ry-go-rounds, and booths where weak
tea, gingcrpop and buns were served
out to hungry voters at nominal charg-
es. There were mnstrcls, acrobats
and a beautiful lady, who performed
on the slack-wire. The Cabinet Minis
ter had arrived, and other Tory M. P.'s
were present. primed with time-worn
platitudes and dreary misstatements.
Before the proceedings opened, GER
tain formalities were gone through in
the castle library. Mr.. Savile-Moss
produced a bankers book, showing
that n sum of fl, 900 had been lodged
in Il local bank, upon which Mr.. Skum-
blcby's check was to be drawn. The
balance to be made up over and above
the subscriptions amounted to a little
more than $3.50, and each of the eight
knights handed Mr.. Moss a promissorv
note for fl0O-'.just as a matter of
form" the latter gentleman explained.
Have you got Skumbleby's check
for fS00?' inquired Sir James, anx-
iously.
Yes" replied Mr.. Moss, %slapping
his pocket.
"You will present it at once, won't
you?"
'No use until the Il. 900 check has
gone through said Mr.. Moss, .but
I'll lose no time. and rs soon rs if is
cashed I'll return the promissory
notes"
Quite So said Sir James. 'Now.
gentlemen, we must get to business"
will pass over the presentation and
the fcte' for one of these entertain
ments is exceedingly like another.
But three days later Sir James re-
celved a terrible piece of news, in a
note from Mr.. Moss. He wrote:
81 greatly regret to say, that. owing
to no fault of my own, Mr.. Skumbleby's
check for $500 had been %dishonored.
1t seems that a money-lendcr name-l
Sharon. to whom Mr.. Skumbleby owes
"a large sum. got wind of the affair,
and attached the FL 1000 check at once.
The loss falls primarily upon me:
bu'' uhnei 'ht circumstances, I'IGar.I
must FALL upon you and the other gen
tlemen whose promissory notes | hold.
to meet them You will oblige me by
forwarding Il check for El00.n
Sir James sentiments can not de-.
be expressed in words. and the
rage and dismay of Messrs. Sopely,
Fawning, Rodent and Company, each
vt whom received Il similar letter.
passed all bounds, But they found it
was useless to contest the legality of