Mexico weekly ledger., 1891-10-01
CHAPTER TX.
TOM EANNTCE'S VISITOR.

A'S' |
Near the upper end of Nassau street,
in New York, stands atall building con-
trimming business Offices. In the year
1879 this building was regarded as one
Of the finest in New York and was occu-
curied chiefly by Il good class OF law
yers. The apartment on the northeast
corner of the top floor bore upon the
ground class panel Of its doorthe legend,
0.sThomas Fl. Bannick, Law Office" Mr..
Bannick had lived III the building since
its erection, but only latterly III ais
present quarters. He had begun bus1-
ness in one cf the large suits of offices
on the third landing, but, for one reason
or another, the larger rewards OF his
profession had not come to him, ana,
not being weighted down by gold III ms
pockets, he had gradually risen from one
tIoor to another. until at length he mad
found himself, INTELLECTUALLY speaking,
above all his fellow tenants. To so
higher was impossible. He was not yet
light enough to hive in the empty air,
although if things went on as they had
been going it looked as if he would have
to live on it.
Because a man is poor in New York it
does not always follow that he Is a
scouudrel, or even that he is incompe-
tent. Tom Bannick, at all events, was
neither. He WIS born Of Il good North
of Ireland family. and had been thor
olrhly educated at Dublin university.
After a supplementary career in law he
caIne to America with ten thousand
pounds in his pocket, and an impression
that he was going to make d large fort
une. Curiosity and a temper h~osnitable
to adventure drew him to the western
states. where for Il dozen years he had q
very lively AMI interesting time OF II,
He twice lost all his money, and once
was worth n couple of hundred thousand
dollars. These vic~issitudes, it must be
confessed, were not incident to the regu-
lar practice of his profession-he specu-
lated in land and mining properties, and
the inevitable ups and downs followed.
After his second reverse he tossed up a
cent BIZ way of determining whether he
should follow the law or go to Caiifor-
MIA and prospect for gold. The cent
came up heads. and he chose law &C
cordingly. The many friends he had
made and his knowledge of mining got
him plenty of business, and it turned
out that he VII Il better manager oi
other peoples affairs than Of his own
He WIS making a fair income when il
came into his head hat he might do still
better in New York.
There Is plenty Of money in New York
but, like the fairy gold of the legends
it has q way Of vanishing just when yol
think you have your hands on it. Ton
Baunick was Il sound lawyer and a mai
of excellent Judgment, but he was in
corrigihly honest. He was conscientiou
to Il degree that caused his colleagues t
shrug their shoulders. He objected t
taking up doubtful cases son spec" an
to defending causes which seemed t
him to involve ~th1every. He had no il
fuential friends to back him up. and h
was not a politician. On the other hant
be sometimes advocated IL cas- that az
pealed to his sympathies, ven when
did not pay him mnch. Altogether
was not a success. He had lately ma
ried a pretty little wife, who had NAL
him very happy, and whom he woai
have liked to make very rich. She W;
agood manager, but there was no mag
dwarf to help her spin the domest
straw into gold.
One October morning Mr.. Bannick a
rived at his Office about ten o'clock, al
ascertained from the pale faced and cy
ical urchin in charge of the anteroo
that no one had yet called there--a pie
of news which custom had robbed of j
startling features. He then entered Il
inner room, hung up his coat, lit a eiga
cite, and sitting down in his revolvil
chair began to read the newspaper. 7
French indemnity, it appeared, was pal
Louis Napoleon was not expected to liy
Count Lucieu de Lisle, the Mexican mi
ionaire was stopping mt the Brevoe
House. Stocks were dull. Mrs. Har
Trent entertained q few friends at Il
ner last night.
$50 she has reentered tho world, h
sheF' said Tom Bannick to himss
"Well, by George, she's got the mon'
wish it hal been that poor Raven 81
HulloI What's that"
The outer door had opened, and so
one was in the antero0m.
"Must be that beggar about tho pia
remit Well, if he'd collect my bad del
I'd pay him. l think I'll offer him
commission. No, 'tisn't he. Can't he a
A client, he would have said, but
didn't seem worth while to hazard
superstition. Nevertheless he slipped
newspaper into the wastepaper basil
- ftr.xr- r.ns-, Isa x1a-i- uol huJ toiya,1
his pen to write the day of the month
the head Of a sheet of blank paper, WI
the Office boy opened the door.
"Gentieman to see yon, sir" he 50
and handed over n card. It bore
name and title Count Lucien de Lis
"Why, that's the chap at the /
voortt' mnttered Mr.. Brarr:eh ah'
the gentleman In. no addict
A tall man .-Si, removing his 81
hat = at SC. He was u handsol
and Of striking appearance. /
hair, of a light brown hue, inclining
reddish, was cut rather short, and ste
upright over his head without any pa
ing, in the French manner. His bea
also cropped short and pointed at
chin, wa OF the same hue; but his e
brows and eyeissaes, and his eyes the
selves were somewhat darker, givins
peculiar character to his countenan
scarcely modified by the gold rimu
eyeglasses that sat astride his handso
nose A black double breasted coat '
bnttoned round his figure, and his er
and slightly formal carriage besp1
military training. His clothes were 7
fectly cut, with just a suspicion of dan
ism In the fashion of the collar and
design of the scarfpin. But dandy
In q foreigner is simply foreign"
bears DC stigma. Il was evident
glance that Baron Lucien de Lisle W,
gentleman in the most exaeting sens
the word.
GOOD morning. sir said Tom. gl;
ing from the card in his hand to the
Tor before him. Have a chair. e
do anything for your
81 desire ii, returned the count.
voice was quiet and grave and MAI
by . Gallo accent, peresptib1e at I
but to which one soon became &C
toned. He spoke English, as Tom
noted. qnite automatically, though ,
. more careful precision than Q ma
would use. He sat down, put his
and gold headed cane ON the book 4