Rocky Ford enterprise., 1896-06-04

fsTSA about my own
Q'"O AFFAIRS that l may
well begin by spar
ing few lines to those OF another man'
n man on whose grave the grass aaS
been growing for many long year.
His name was Julian Lorraine. HIS
home. from the day when hrst knew
him to the day Of his death. was Hersea.
Abbey. a fine old house in that part oi
wooded Somersetshire where railways
have not yet come.
Although Mr.. Lorraine was man Vi
wealth. and, moreover. by education
and. I believe. family. fully entitled 10
take high social position, hers,a'
Abbey was not his ancestral home. ne
had acquired 1t by simple right OF pur-
chase, having bought ou; an oid' I'M
proyident, but popular county nanny
bought 1t out so completely that II ne
did not literally step into Its shoes' ne
sat in its very chairs and used Its very
tables.
Such a wholesale buying up OF one OIL
their own class by an unknown man
always annoys, perhaps frishtehs'
county people, and Julian Lorraine
reIghbors for some time looked AT MIN
nskance. He took none Of those steps
by which newcomer may occhsioha'-
ly gain access to the magic county CIR
Gle He brought no introductions. HE
gave no large subscription to the nuht
indeed, there was not much hunting
in that part. He did not. In covert
way, let his willingness to give grand
entertainments be known. He simpi!
completed the purchase OF Herstai
Abbey and its contents: took up MS
abode In the old house. and trouoiea
nothing about his neighbor, which no
doubt annoyed them all the more.
Little Julian Lorraine cared Tor this.
The truth is he was one OF the most
unsociable men alive, and his cyniclsm,
IL distributed through the county
would have made Somersetshire a re-
g.on in which life would have been un-
bearable. He was-I pen the words re-
luctantly-an utter disbeliever IN hu-
mauity, Perhaps the life which he had
hitherto led brought him to this state
of mind.
For in a very short time his neighbors
found out that he was by no means the
unknown man they thought him. Peo-
ple who knew London life had much to
saw about this Julian Lorraine. 1t was
soon made clear to the countryside that
the new mans social claims to the right
hand of fellowship were indisputable;
but other things were also made clear.
Lorraine had led terrible life-the
very fastest Of the fast. The wonder
was that he was still wealthy. AT one
time 1t was thought he had run through
everything. for he had disappeared, and
no one saw anything Of him for two
years. But 1t turned out he had only
been leading rowing lie in lar coun-
tries. Repenting, let US hope No;
Julian Lorraine was not nice man.
But, nice or not, no one had any
longer the wish to keep Mr.. Lorraine at
arm's-length. Had he cared for 1t, he
might have enjoyed mixing with the
pick of the, county society. But he
treated civility almost as he treated
coldness, with complete indifference;
and 1t soon became understood that the
owner of Herstal Abbey was man
who no longer cared to mix with his
kind.
1t was, of course, incomprehensible
that any one should buy fine property
and settle down to the life of a recluse
the more so as the man was still in the
prime of life, handsome and wealthy.
But Julian Lorraine was an incompre-
hensible man. l, for one, have never
been able to determine his true charac-
ter Perhaps I have Stunned investi-
eating 1t. Perhaps. had I tried,
should have been unable to gather
trustworthy information as to his true
nature, from the fact that tales afioat
concerning his early life would reach
me last Of all.
When he bought Herstal Abbey he
.as a widower with one son, boy OF
seven. This boy he petted and neg
lected alternately. There were days
when the child was with him from
morn to eve; there were weeks in which
he never saw him from Sunday morn
ing to Saturday night; there were
months during which Mr.. Lorraine went
wandering off, Heaven knows where
leaving the child to the care of serv-
ants.
Whether at home or abroad, he kept
up the establishment in lavish, waste
full manner. He threw his money about
In cynical way, as one who cared not
how it went. He expected his servants
would rob him-no doubt they did
This he considered but human nature
and troubled nothing about it; but woe
to the man or woman who in the slight
est degree neglected anything which his
comfort or whim demanded! His de.
pendents soon understood their mas
ter's peculiarities. and by the exercise
of due care managed to keep theil
places for years and years. and nc
doubt grew rich upon the money he
wasted.
AS will soon be seen, / have related
all. or the greater part Of the above
from hearsay. The following incident
in Mr.. Loraine's life I can vouch for, as
heard it from his own lips.
In the year 1858 he was returning
from Australia. He did not tell me
what had taken him there, but sus-
pect Ae went in search Of health. He
was in a sailing vessel-the BLACK
Swan" was her name. There were
Nth