The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1895-06-21
THE CASE or MR.LUCRAFl
A NOVEL.
BIZ WALTER BEsANT AND JAMES RICE


of the only remarkable thing which
ever happened to me in the course of
a longish life, but as no one ever be-
lieved me, l left off telling it. l wish,
therefore, to leave behind me a truth
ful record, in which everything shall
be set down, as neal as / can remem-
Der 1t, just as it happened. | am sure
l need not add a single fact. The
more | consider the story, the more l
realize to myself my wonderful es-
cape and the frightful consequences
which a providential accident averted
from my head, the more reason l feel
to be grateful and humble.
| have read Of nothing similar to my
w case. l have consulted books Oh
apparitiOns, witchcraft, and the power
of the devil as manifested in authentic
history, but l have found absolutely
nothing that car in any way compare
with my w case. If there be any
successor to my Mr.. EbcneZer Grum-
below, possessed of his unholy powers.
endowed with his tiendish resolve and
his diabolical iniquity of seltishness.
this plain and simple narrative may
serve as a warning to young men situ-
ated as | was in the year 1923. EX-
cept as a moral example, indeed, 1 see
no use in telling the story at all.
l have never been a rich man, but l
was once very poor, and it is of this
period that | have to write.
AS for my parentage, it was quite
obscure. My mother died when l was
still Il boy; my father, who was O Il
man to be proud of as a father, had
long before run away from her and
disappeared. He was a sailor by pro-
fession, and | have heard it rumored
that sailors Of his time possessed Il wife
in every port, besides IA few who lived,
like my mother, inland; so that they
could vary the surroundings when they
wished. The wives We're all properly
married in church, too, and honest
women, every one of them. What be-
came of my father l never knew, nor
did l ever inquire.
l went through a pretty fair num-
Der of adventures before l settled down
to my first serious profession. I was
travelling companion and drudge to
an i%tinerant tinker, who treated me as
kindly as could be expected when he
was sober. When he was drunk he
used to throw the pots and pans ut my
head. Then | became a cabin boy, but
only for a single voyage. on board a
collier. The ship belonged to a philan-
thrOplst, who was too much occupied
with the wrongs Of the West Indian
niggers to think about the rights OF
his own sailors; SO his ships, insured
far above their real value, were sent
to sea to sink or swim as it might
please Providence. l suppose no cabin
boy ever had so many kicks and cuffs
In a single voyage as l had. How
evea', my ship carried me safely from
South Shields to the port of London.
There | ran away, and l heard after
ward that on her return voyage the
Spanking Sally foundered with all
hands. In the minds of those who
kneW the captain and his crew person
ally, there We're doubtless, as in mine,
grave fears as to their ultimate des-
tination. After that l became stew
ard in an Atlantic sailing packet for a
couple of years: then clerk to a bogus
%auctioneer in New York; cashier to Il
store; all sorts of things. but nothing
long. Then came back to England.
and not knowing what to do with my
self, joined a strolling company of act
ors in the general utility line. 1t was
nc exactly promotion, but l liked the
life; / liked the work; l liked the ap-
plause; / liked wandering about from
town to town.: even liked, being II
and a fool, the precarious nature of the
salary. Heaven knows mine was small
enough; u we We're Il CHEEKY COM
pany, and n OF two members SubSe-
Quently ROSE to distinction. If we had
known any history, which we did not.
We might have remembered that Mo-
llere himself was Onc a stroller
through France. Some people think it
philosophical to reflect, when they are
hard up, how many great men have
been hard up, too. 1t would have
brought no comfort to me. Practically
l felt little inconvenience from poverty.
save in the matter of boots. We Went
share II share alike, most of ,ls, and
there was always plenty to eat, even
for my gigantic appetite. Juliet al
ways used to reckon me as equal to
four. i
Juliet was the managers daughter
Juliet halTans, acting as Miss Juliet
Alyanley. She was Is and l was 2233.
an infammable and romantic time OF
life. We were thrown a good deal to-
gether, too, not only off the stage but
on it. | was put into parts to play up
to her. / was Romeo when she played
her namesake, a part sustained by her.
mother till even she was bound to own
that she was too fat to play it any
longer; she was Lady Teazle and 1 was
Charles Surface; she was Rosalind and
II Orlando; she was Miranda and /
ICa,.1 ir,nn nh. Sha was A nuoIioo &ao1 r