Fort Worth gazette. [volume] (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1891-1898, 1891-07-30

| had more than once used his influence with
success to further certain public move
ments in which Miss Bennison took deep
J interest. Though their relations could
scarcely be described ass 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
a-wagging about mysterious rebuff that
was said to have been administered by Miss
Bennison. 1t was, however, only u church
fea-bite.
Blarnaby always made point of accept
ing every invitation 10 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, a literal king of kings,
when the royal talk was of cash, and yet as
humble a gentleman as ever lacked rent
roll. A grand stroke, mused Blarnahy, to
get old Sebag to talk up the scheme. Then
there vas 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-
OTIS, these. of the broadcast kind, because
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
ist, raised, perhaps, in Kankakee, licked
into shape in Washington, and pitch
forked up to Kamschatka or the court of
TimbuctoO.
The third was a quiet-looking younger
man, guiltless of diamonds. lacking even the
mustache with curly waXed ends, but graced
with natural air of refinement that could
be felt. His name was peculiar Gf any set
of names can be SO i'll free and indepen-
dent republic), being Ettrick Shepherd
Hogg 1t was understood that this gentle
mans father tor was it his fathers fatherl)
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 1t Is not
certain, but the uncouth name ill-Suited the
appearance, the manner, and the pursuits
of its owner. Mr.. Hogg was scholar, Il
traveller, and a philosopher. In their place
and way he was also a sportsman, ID diet
world. His means enabled him to be citi-
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 a probable trump
card in his pack OF friends.
How did Miss Bennison's friends look
upon the Hon. Dewitt NJ. Blarnabyl In a
general way, as society in general looks
upon generally successful mau. 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 If he
continues to cultivate good taste he may de-
velop 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. If they
felt anything it 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 Bennl-
son to favor him with introductions which
might promote business. 1t was easy, and
business 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 (for some of her family had
married into the British aristocracy) would
bring him into contact with prominent men
in the financial, and consequently, the poiit-
ical world, which was the height of his i'm
,a1i ota or,h hilton These ha HnlU received
and duly presented. as we shall see. From
Mr.. Sebag (yyho disdained TO use a foreign
title some impecuniouS monarch had con-
ferred upon HIM he obtained a note which
struck him as unnecessarily formal, but
worth carrying, If not using. MIR. Hogg
was happy to be of any little service to so
well-known gentleman as Mr.. Blarnaby, and
inclosed couple of very kind introductions
to an English baronet who was member
of parliament and an eminent London bar
rister Mr.. Winslow gave him a letter to a
leading stockbrol1er, a sort of partner of
his. for Winslow was himself a notable
figure in Wall street.
Miss Bennison had living with her as
companion, and in legal sense as ward, a
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 many signing
sutton could testify. What in ordinary
girls Miss Bennison 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 new terror to
small-talk chatterers who bored her. She
happened to trip into the drawing room one
morning as Mr.. Hogg was about to take
leave of Miss Bennison after a call upon
something relating to the church extension
fund
'.Oh-I beg a thousand pardons. auntie;
had no ide,; 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 dear2"
That depends on the length of your
prisoners sentence, Genie; and l don't
know what his crime is yet"
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
notl But plead guilty to wasting your
precious time
''No-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 a stool
at her aunt's feet, leaned her head on her
hand and her elbow on the convenient knee,
and archly looked into Mr.. Hogg's face as
she put this question TO him:
do you know Mr.. Blarnaby very well2"
Scottish wariness, they say, makes it a
Ia ~ Inv