Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-26

| Severer Sel1-denlal tndn tnaI OF leisure.
Blarnaby's widowed sister kept the New
York house for him, and through attending
the same church, was associated with Miss
Bennison in various parish committees. In
this way Miss Bennison had made the &C.
quaintance Of the eminent ex-senator, who
had more than once used his influence with
success to further certain public move
ments in which Miss Bennison took deep
interest. Though their relations could
scarcely be described as these of strict
| friendship, there certainly was recipro-
city of regard on the one one side for char
| acter and ON the other for usefulness which
had at once set some scandal-loving tongues
l'a-wagging about mysterious rebuff that
was said to have been administered by Miss
Bennison. 1t was, however, only church
fea-bite.
Blarnaby always made point of accept
ing every invitation TO Miss Bennison's en-
tertainments-every one, that Is, that
reached him. Some, somehow. did not.
Among the persons to whom he was there
introduced there were three men whose
friendship he set himself to gain. For
Blarnaby had the small change of CONVEX
sation in ready abundance. He could hold
anybody on any passing topic long enough
to find out whether it was worth while to
hook him in with bigger bait. There was
the venerable but vigorous Abram Sebag,
head of one of the worlds most famous
fnanciering houses, literal king of kings,
when the royal talk was of cash, and yet as
humble gentleman as ever lacked rent
roll A grand stroke, unused Blarnaby, to
get old Sebag to talk up the scheme. Then
there was Roger Winslow, a good man to
know, an angel to help you, but demon if
deceived. Winslow was one of those native
| Americans who stand midway between the
old New Englanders and the new Old
| Englanders, no prouder of their American
birth than of the English descent. Patri-
l % ,la I,,nn Il ind haf.a IrSa
they aim TO bring closer together the sister
peoples whose destiny is the sure SUI
premacy of the English-speaking race
Winslow, thought he, will come in handler
by-and-bye than real full-blown diplomat
list, raised, perhaps, in kankakee, licked
into shape in Washington, and pitch
forked up to Kamschatka or the court of
| Timbuctoo.
The third was q quiet-looking younger
| man, guiltless of diamonds. lacking even the
mustache with curly waxed ends, but graced
with a natural air Of refinement that could
be felt. His name was peculiar Of any set
| of names can be so in free and indepen-
dent republic), being Ettrick Shepherd
| Hogg 1t was understood that this gentle
mans father Tor was it his fathers fatherO
| had emigrated from Scotland and had built
up large industry and fortune in Illinois.
| Whether so named in admiration for the
poet, or some relationship perhaps, it is not
appearance, the manner, and the pursuits
| of its owner. Mr.. HOgg was a scholar, a
| traveller, and philosopher. In their place
| and way he was also sportsman, diet
| tante, and a thorough all-round man of the
| world. His means enabled him to be cltl-
| zen of the two worlds, eastern and western,
and the wonder grew in New Nork circles
| on which side the Atlantic he world choose
his wife and where he would settle. To
him Blarnaby looked as probable trump
card in his pack of friends
How did Miss Bennison's friends look
upon the Hon. Dewitt NJ Blarnaby? In u
general way, as society in general looks
upon a generally successful man. Blarn-
| ably. whispered society, is of course one of
| your clever self-made men who graduate
from the stump; but he is rising above his
| surroundings, don't you know, and II he
! continues to cultivate good taste he may de-
| veloD into greatness, or even into one of our
select selves. Personally, neither Sebag,
Winslow nor Hogg felt any differently to-
| wards Blarnaby than towards any other
| guest at Miss Bennison's table. II they
| felt anything 1t was not apparent Besides,
| one never knows who may be able to do one
| a good turn, our mutual interests are so in
volved nowadays. Hogg possessed large
| estates out West, somewhere near the
| newly-found asphalt yield in the territory
controlled by Blarnaby. When Blarnaby
found it advisable to scamper post-haste TO
| London, To place his scheme on the market,
| he had no hesitation in asking Miss Benni-
son to favor him with intrOductions which
| might promote business. 1t was easy, and
| buslness-like, to fortify himself with a
| recommendation from that lady to sundry
| of her influential business friends, and
| among them are the three already
| named To Miss Bennison he suggested
| that introductions to few of her
| connections flor some of her family had
married into the British aristocracy) would
| bring him into contact with prominent men
in the financial, and consequently, the polit-
| ical world, which was the height of his i'm
mediate ambition. These he duly received
and duly presented as we shall see. From
Mr.. Sebag [who disdained to use a foreign
| title some impecunious monarch had con-
| ferred upon him) he obtained note which
| struck him as unnecessarily formal but
worth carrying, if not using. Mr.. Hogs
| was happy TO be of any little service to so
| well-hnown gentleman as Mr.. Blarnaby, and
| irclosed couple of very kind introductions
| to an English baronet who was a member
! of parliament and ali eminent London bar
| rister. Mr.. Winslow gave him letter to
| leading stockbroker, a sort of partner OF
| his, for Winslow was himself Il notable
| figure in Wall street
Miss Bennison had living with her as
| companion, and in legal sense as ward,
bright young lady, not long escaped from
| her teens. This was Genie Dabchic, an
orphan long enough to have forgotten the
| pain of her bereavements. She was the
| life and soul of the house. as manga signing
| suitor could testify. What in ordinary
| girls Miss Beunison gently deprecated as
| frivolity, in Genie was only the innocent
| exuberance of high spirits. For Genie had
| quite an unusual knack of combining sense
| with her nonsense, of dropping from cloud
| land down to solid earth in the turn of a
! sentence and this added a new charm to
| her vivacity, and often a new terror to
| small-talk chatterers who bored her. She
| happened to trip into the drawing-room one
| morning as Mr.. Hosg was about TO take
| leave of Miss Bennison after a call upon
| something relating to the church extension
| fund.
''Oh-I beg thousand pardons, auntie; l
| had no idea you were here, Mr.. Hogg''
pray don't mind me, Miss Dabchic: I'm
| nobody, and I'm gone
''No you're not, Mr.. Hogg. for Pm your
| iailer now-mayn't be, auntie dearl'
That depends on the length of your
| prisoners sentence, Genie; and l don't
| know what his crime is YETI
But don't You know, Miss Bennison,
| that in this free country a man may be
| locked in the Tombs for years before he
| knows whether he is legally criminal or
| noti But plead guilty to wasting your
| precious time
'sNo-that's my crime now, Mr.. Hogg,
and I'm going to add to its Nervousness by
| wasting a bit more of yours-if you'll
let me- and giving Miss Bennison kiss
| that blocked any possible negative, the
| sprightly damsel seated herself on stool
at her aunt'S feet, leaned her head on her