The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1894-01-11

A few significant hints and the sight Of my
letters and drafts brought every man of
them as near to bursting as the frog In the
fable. Some envied me the money. some
the adventures, others said 1t was the beau
tiful combination Of both that took their
fancy, and all agreed had certainly been
born with the coveted silver spoon in my
mouth.
"It'sone of the shameless tricks of Madam
Fortune" said an embryotic divine, slap
ping me on the shoulder. Here you go
out there to ride elephants and shoot tigers
and order funkies and enrich yourself from
inexhaustible treasures of gold and gems,
while am left to wrestle with narrowing
problems in theology Do you call that
fairf"
/ was to write them volumes about the
wonders Of the Indies and was to give par
ticular information on these two Ioints-
namely, the feeling inspired by wounded
tiger charging full upon you when your gun
Is empty and what thought Of the hea-
then gods--from a financial point Of view.
II believe" remarked one with u taste
for finance, those uncomfortable pagans
make themselves deities OF the finest ore
set with precious stones while we haven't
cash enough for an afternoons outing, Just
send us god, old chappie, till we see how
the heather abomination would melt in the
crucible Of n Christian goldsmith"
They escorted me In body to my coach
For, being prosperous now, acquaintances
became friends. They gave prolonged
cheer as the vehicle moved Off and unanl-
nous injunction to mind my liver and be
on my guard against the encroachments OF
pride when, as nabob with retiuue OF
slaves, hobnobbed with the dusky and
luxurious potentates Of the east.
Only one thing marred my enjoyment.
had it set in my mind to give Peter Gle
phnne the soundest drubbing he Ind ever
had in his life, but as he happened to be
absent In Dundee my virtuous intent did
not blossom into action.
Arrived in London, my first business was
to find Captain Rogers. He had heard
from Sir Thomas and received me with
great affability and consideration, under
taking to have me bestowed in the best
part OF the ship and to let me see something
OF the town before we started. In me, as
remember, our sightseeing expeditions pro
duced perhaps as much bewilderment as
pleasure. wandered through the seeth-
ing, roaring wilderness OF the largest city
OF the world eager to learn and admire, yet
feeling so utterly out Of my element, 80
much confounded by the din and smoke
and rush, by the ruthless self aSsertiSeners
and indifference that seemed TO character.
ize men and things alike, by the stlualor
and splendor so grotesquely blended and
tragicnlly contrasted-in a word, so 3aZcd
by the distracting throb and tumult Of a
nations mighty heart, that was glad TO
get away
When the time came to sail, the river
sides " ere thrJnget. people 20 v srssvss
~ u atf,. Co.. 1...X
being Just the beginning of the era OF steam,
1t was thought a miraculous thing to see a
stately three decker sailing of with never
stitch of canvas set nor any visible means
Of getting forward save by a wheel that
frantlcally churned the water into foam;
and IL 1t was strange to the spectators on
shore to see big ship going brayely on in
dependcntly OF wind and tide must own
II was rather startling TO one at letist Of
those on board to be Gagged upon the waters
with belching, pounding, wheeling.
screeching fire demon that seemed 10 be
crying out in eternal agony aud struggling
with all its freuzled might 10 burst its iionds
and wreak destruction on all about it.
Often In the night have lain listening
to 1t in its miniature pandemoniHm, never
silent, never slumbering, never for one
brief moment at peace, but forever wranch-
ing and wrlthing, forever setting up the
same inappeasable cry Of laboFiug psiItand
the same terrible threat Of vengeance.
Nowadays we have grown so famliar with
the fire ilend that. us It were, we stroke
him complacently on the back, but never
come near him in steamer or kissing loco
motive without shudder at the Thought
of the vengeance he will one day wrenk on
this world.
But in that fresh experience curioslty'pnd
interest soon mastered fear. There was
gladness in the ease and speed with which
our flame fed slave carried us down the riv-
er and along the coast of Kent and past
"the tall white cliffs Of Dover" the last
prominent spot ON which the exile's at rain
ing eye rests when he is leaving England
for the east und the first on which II kist-
fully falls when happily he returns. The
sun was going down in soft suifusion OF
color as we entered the strait, casting n
Rlamorous iridescent light on the receding
land and the sails Of the many stately ships
that were bearing sallantly up aud dGwD,
some, like ourselves, outward bound, 9th
ers. their wanderinGs for the present over,
bound for the home we had left ! stood
on the deck gazing backward I'LL tile land
melted into darkness, then Captain Rogers
quietly slipped his arm in mine aud we
went below to supper.
The Pearl of the Orient made quick and
prosperous passage, landing us IN bon bay
In day less than the time ressoned sfor
the voyage before starting. You mag be
sure did not allow Sir Thomas busi tless
to lag.
Having presented my letters of iutioinc-
tion and undergone Il brief but fiery course
OF hospitality, l set vigorously TO the work
before me, assisted by the numerous friends
of my patron. ] had no difficulty in dis
covering that Donald Gordon had been
In Bombay some lS months before and had
suddenly disappeared. But whittier he had
gone, whether he had departed by land or
by sea, or been dispatched by the hand OF
the assassin, no one had the least idea.
There were of course conjectures in plenty.
He might be hunting in the jungle or TAX
ing the cool air among the hills, or traffick-
ing with oily natives in another town. He
might be in China or Japan or Australia
or the South Sea islands or Peru, or In the
interior of some enterprising shark. The
possibilities were endless, but there was
only one certainty-that he had completely
slipped all his friends in Bombay.
In my first report home, then, / had
nothing better to send than hope, of which
l was no niggard. ! stated, truthfilly
enough trust, that had already learned
something about Donald; also, fear not
quite so truthfully that was not without
reasonable ground for thinking that he and
i should shortly have dish of curry to-
gether. / did not tell them that as last
resource l had employed the cleyerest pri-
yate detective In the city to help me, and
that he had failed to find SO much as
single clue Had written what was in my
mind should have said frankly that SO far
as could then be seen there was not the
remotest change Of boiug able to traceDon-
aid Perhaps the better course would have
been to say that. saw this more clearly
when the letter was gone, and had strong
or reason to conclude he must be really
dead.
argued In this way; Donald Gordon has
q multitude Of friends In Bombay, and II
he wished to leave he would certainly have