The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1889-06-09

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"Oh, private affair-something par
ticularly choice, replied Clifton. sticking
his cigar in his mouth. "All expenses
paid and twenty pound q MONTH
"Hullo! That's not bad. A hundred
/ dollars and expenses. What is it? Is
] Scotland Yard after the Fenians AGAIN.
No. no. don't belong to the Yard
any more; doing business now on my
own feet. I'm engaged on case involv-
ing hundred and fifty thousand pounds
I seven hundred and fifty thousand Of
your money"
Great Scott A robbery"
mo; no such common business. A lost
heir!'
"a lost heir? That sounds good, Come,
we've got the evening before us; suppose
you spin the yarn.
"Humphi I'm not so sure about that, ="
returned Clifton, scratching his whiskers
thoughtfully. This isn't the sort of
story that one tells to everybody. How
ever" he added, you're not everybody,
though 1 suppose you consider yourself
somebody; at all events, if you promise
to keep it dark, fancy can trust you.
But let's go into some quiet corner-as
it's warm evening, suppose We sit out
side, where we can smoke. have cigars
enough, and this yarn will probably last
out more than one of them"
As they passed out of the door,
gentleman who had been sitting in
chair not far off, with his hat drawn
down over his nose, and who had seem
ingly been asleep, rose quietly from his
seat and proceeded to the door of a state
room little way forward of the paddle
box. He entered the room and locked
the door after him; then he breathed a
sigh of relief. He took off his hat and
looked at his reflection in the mirror.
1t showed the countenance of & man be-
tween 90 and 80 years of age-perhaps
nearer the latter age than the former
the lower part of which was thicl-ly
covered with brown beard, cropped
short at the sides and round the throat,
but allowed to grow to a point on the
rhin. The forehead, cheeks and nose
were deeply bronzed by the sun. giving
a peculiar appearance to pair Of hand
some blue eyes. The hair was cut short;
any one would have taken the head for
that Of a Frenchman. This idea would
have been confirmed when the gentle
man put across his nose a pair of tinted
eyeglasses, mounted in gold. He re-
garded himself critically.
YES" he muttered, in the undertone
which people use when conversing with
themselves, Its good get up, consider
ing the simplicity of the materials. No
one can say am Disgusting myself; and
yet l doubt if my own motherhood
bless her!-would recognize me at the
first glance, though my sister might.
must have been intended by nature for
an actor; my features lend themselves so
readily to disguise. At one time l am
an American; then an Englishman; now
a Frenchmans tomorrow may attempt
4 Turk or a Russian. But what an ex-
traordinary piece of bad luck that that
fellow Clifton should be ON this steamer!
Does he know that l am on board?
Hardly. And yet, what is he here for?
1t must be on that same business; and
in that business 1 am concerned, how
ever unwillingly. Perhaps he has come
to look up my record. Confound him,
why can't he let me alone! shall have
hard enough time Of it without him.
Of course he will go straight to Inspector
Byrnes, and when the inspector finds out
that am not-what's that?"
In order to answer this question, it
must be observed that the state room
occupied by the bearded gentleman was
an Outside" one; its window opened on
the water, or rather on narrow strip
of deck which interviewed between the
rail and the wall of the state room itself
This strip of deck was Just wide enough
to admit of person sitting there, with
his shoulders against the wall and his
feet on the rail-an attitude said to be
favorite one with Americans, and which
any person who has studied the circula-
ton of the blood and its action on the
brain will gladly put himself into. The /
window, it should be added, was pro-
tacted by a wooden blind with fine stats,
not noticeable from without.
The noise which had caused the
bearded gentleman to break off so alb /
ruptly in his monologue had been caused !
by the advent of two persons with camp !
stools to the apparently secure retreat
which the narrow strip of deck already |
alluded to afforded. Having established |
themselves there to their satisfaction,
and lit their cigars, they began to talk in
Il low tone. But although the blind of
tie bearded gentleman's stateroom was
shut, the window itself was open; and as
he had reason to suppose that the con-
versation was going to be of particular
to himself he took care TO :
eave the window as it was. and even to /
sit down beside it. AS the reader will
already have surmised, the speakers were
he two gentlemen to whom we have al
'eady been introduced-Henry Clifton
and Bob Stapleton.
You went first to New Zealand, chr
Stapleton was saying. "How happened
'pur man-Ealentine do you call him.
o be there?"
He was the second son, don't you see?
Ind consequently, after he'd run through
he money his father gave him, he had
only himself to fall back on. So he
tarted for New Zealand to make his fort
Inc at sheep farming. When I got
here he had been gone the better part
# year or more. The sheep farming