The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1888-10-27
A MYSTERIOUS CASE.

partment in the express train from London
70 Folkestone. My companion WAS IN deep
mourning. He was not what you would
call an intellectual looking man, and
ON thinking IL over afterwards | remember
that he had narrow and retreating fore
head. never can quite make up my mind
wbether what my fellow traveller told me
WAS the absolute srlth; whether his conii-
dence was caused by the natural yearnlng OF
his soul for human sympathy; or whether, 70
,rse an Americanism, he was merely Killing
nie up"
It was not only my fellow travellers re-
treating forehead, but the nature OF his trav-
cling literature, that caused me 10 look
npon him as something other than an In
tellectual giant. In the first place he was
reading Isis Unveiled" The proceedings
OF the Psychical Society" was there, too, and
fat book in very large type was labeled,
Fragments and Remains OF Madame
By"
He was good enough to offer TO lend me one
of his books, and, like an ass, l gave snort
of indignation and waved it Off
al have no sympathy with such things, ]
said.
"a skeptic, perceive" said he politely.
al l,ok upon the whole thing, sir" re-
piled, las bosh and humbug, miserable trash,
wretched balderdash unworthy Of notice"
And then glared at him.
tried to silence the little man In deep
mourning by looking as much like the Cor
gon Medusa rs possible. Far from being
turned to stone, he simply began to SIT on
the backs Of his hands, than which nothing
is more undignified and irritating.
II was like you once" he said with pity;
ives, was scoffer once; but | have been
bitterly punished-in fact, my incredulity
was the cause Of my bereavement" and he
pointed in solemn manner TO the deep black
hat band he wore.
When looked up at his hat band saw
the mans name printed in little gold letters
upon his travelling bag, which lay on the
rack above his head-"Mr. Augustus Boo
Dyer"
When had heard the name beforel OF
course it comes back to me in flash. Boo
Dyer that was the man who ran of with little
Hetty Stareley, Of the Frivolity theatre.
am not Q theatrical man, but l saw Miss
Stareley in the celebrated ballet Of THE
Swallows" and very pretty indeed she looked
with her big eyes, her curly black hair and
her dot Of mouth. She was pretty plump
little nonentity till she married Boobyer,
when she became a nine days wonder. Then
she left the stage; disappeared from the pho
tographers windows, and nobody ever heard
any more OF Miss Hetty Stareley.
ats not so very long ago" he began, that it
Was my privilege TO lead TO the altar an eI-
cesdingly lovely girl. worshiped the very
ground she trod upon, sir. My wife was 30
excessively good looking rs to attract con
siderable attention wherever we went.
was proud of it at first, but after while it
began to pail My wife, sir was a young,
inexperienced girl, and she felt it bitterly.
Mine was a runaway match" he went on,
land it made d considerable amount of noise
at the time. ! live ut Wimbledon--close to
the camp, unfortunately for mo, and when
we returned from our honeymoon the volun-
teer camp was in full swing. 1t seemed TO
me that when they were not actively engaged
in drill or shooting for prizes, the greater
portion of the volunteers occupied their time
in walking up and down in front OF my
house In order to get IA glimpse Of my beauti-
full wife. Pm not eIaggerating - not the
least bit. At last, however, it became un-
bearable to both Of us. We determined to
seek solitude, aud found it at Herne Bay
"Herne Bay is the most solitary place |
know. 1t is frequented by persons of limited
means with large families. There is a pier a
mile long. We passed u delightful fortnight
At Hene Bay, but it was dull, terribly dull.
We were both feeling rather bored, when
made an acquaintance while / was fishing
for bass with rod from the pier head.
used 70 fish there the greater part Of the
afternoon. l had never caught anything,
but at place like Herne Bay one must do
something. He was very decent young
fellow, and took a great interest in my fish
ing. II | had known at the time who he
was, perhaps ! shouldn't have been quito SO
ready TO foregather with him. The fact is,
he was professional conjurer, but he was a
most gentlemanly young fellow and decid-
edly good looking He talked about spirit
ualism; he was an advanced thinker, and |,
from the lofty pinnacle Of my Grass ignor-
anoe, looked down upon the whole thing as
'Abosh, humbug and balderdash.
Here, still sitting on his hands, he smiled
impertinently at me.
''Monsieur kardec 0or that was his pro.
fessional name tried TO convince me, but in
vain. Our stay at Herne bay was drawing
TO close. I'm going to give little seance
hero tomorrow night said Monsieur Ker-
dec 4 shall be greatly pleased if you would
come and look at the wonders the spirits will
perform Don't humliate me by offering to
pay at the door. Here are a couple OF
tickets
~ was about to decline, but my wife gave
me one appealing look from those great eyes
Of hers. which did not appeal in vain. Wen
como with pleasure, said 1, and l thought nc
moro about the matter.
"As We walked home we stopped 10 read
one Of the posters. 1t was the ordinary pro-
gramms-spirit rapping, thought reading
clairvoyance, and then followed a rather ex.
traordinary statament: Monsieur Kardes
after part the first, will give al illustration
Of modern conjuring and prestidigitation
without apparatus or accomplices. The
whole will conclude with the mysterious die
appearance Of q lady selected from among
the audience We both rather looked for
ward to the entertainment az break to tn
duh monotony Of our daily round at Hsrua
bay.
"Punctual 10 the time, we presented our
selves at the assembly rooms, and ware ID,
sole occupants Of what were termed the 70
served fauteuils, which were two rows Of or
dinary cane bottom chaira I don't thinl