The Cape Girardeau Democrat. (Cape Girardeau, Mo.) 1876-1909, 1895-01-19

KIN 20 T @@~
@A s ssSs 5slt' d and
ness reigned; so much so that the nan
on the hearthrug had sunk to the level
OF reading the Agony Column" and
skimming the births, marriages and
deaths. A sudden appearance of
awakened interest, and 4 muttered
by Jove! SC he's gone" reused the
man in the nearest smoking-chair.
"Hullo." said he, whats the mat
ter? Anybody dead?"
Yes" said the man on the hearth
rug. Listen to this, you fellows
On the both ulto., at Boulogne, the
Hon. Montague Brabazon, aged g.
Most of you remember Monty Braba-
zon, don't you?"
Yes" YES" Rather" and a
"Well, | should SMILE" from the man
who had been to America. indicated
the general interest; so that when the
youngest member asked: "Who was
Monty Brabazon? and why did he die
at Boulogne?" the man on the hearth
rug prepared to answer both questions
with no fear of boring the company.
"As to who Monty was, consult your
Debrett; what he was would be more
to the point. l should describe him as
an educator of youth. / ought to
know, for l wa one of his golden
calves myself once. Why did he die
al Boulogne? Well, l can answer that.
too, but it involves a story. Shall l
tell ito"
Yes" go Don't make it too
long Fire away" and other like re-
marks were sufficient encouragement,
SO tie man on the hearth rug pro-
ceeded.
Well, as / said before, most of you
remember Monty Brahazon, and you
remember what swell he always was,
aud how most people wondered now he
did it. And yet there was very little
in it after all. 1t consisted in new
clothes. new traps, new harness, new
horses and one of the jeuResse d0ree On
the box seat. And only the new clothes
belonged to Monty; the other things
were in a transition state as regards
ownership, and were passing from the
dealer, through Monty, to Monty's
friend on the box seat. This was only
part of the way he did it, but l be-
lieve he made a really decent little
income this way. Of course, this is
only what lots of people are doing
every day. but Monty was SO clever IN
providing himself with a constant
succession of youngsters; and he never
sucked them dry, ne was too sharp
for that; having extracted what he
thought was enough he passed his
young friend on as soon as he could
find one to take his place. Teaching
the young idea how to race was
Monty's forte, however, and his chief
source of gain, and for many years he
.contrived to do very well without sail
ing too near the wind. Deals in thor
oughbreds, working commissions and
other things paid very well, and if he
had been content with these he might
never have had to die at Boulogne. But
he would gamble on his own ac-
count, and, having got into 4 hole once
or twice, was constrained to find a
dirty way out l suppose it is about
five years ago he vanished from Picca-
dilly and Newmarket. He had fin
ished with me about three years be-
fore, but we were still very friendly, |
anu CSTldlulN ne was Jill VI nv hAOSb
delightful companions a man could
wish to meet. And so thought Dick
Curtis, who was under Monty's wing
at that time, until n morning he
came round to see me. and told me a
story which showed up Monty's meth
DDS in a more painful light han even
| had suspected. | need not go into
details, but Dick discovered hat his
friend and mentor had entered into an
alliance with Messy Levison. who was
a biggiSh man in the ring then, with
the result that whenever Dick backed
one of his, it was Monty really who
laid him. and made him safe, and as
Monty had absolute command of
Dicks racing stud, it was a profitable
game. 1t does not matter how Dick
found it out; he told me enough to
show there was no doubt about it He
had had no row with Monty, as yet,
and told me he did not mean to break
at once; said he wanted to get even;
would 1 helped him, etc, etc, and in
many ways showed a vindictive ami
mostly which l did not like, backed
up. too, by a quiet determination
which / did not give him credit for. l
told him | would help him in anything
reasonable, and he extracted a promise
from me and went away apparently
satisfied. / did not think of the prom
Use until Dick called some weeks after,
and reminded me of it; all he wanted.
he said, at present was that l should
keep myself free for the Grand Ducal
steeplechase at Kempdown on the fol-
lowing Thursday. i was going to ride
in a small race on the same day. but
had no mount in this / said: All
right. but l did not know you had a
horse entered /
mo more / had said Dick, but !
have Just bought Rear-Admiral. and
the race is. l think. q certainty for
him, so much SO that I shall probably
ride myself; but ] want to nave you to
fall back on
well, you know, this suggestion of
Dicks rather took my breath away,
Tor though he was plucky enough, he