The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-11-08
B A F F | { D
BY j. JOHN SON LEAK.
Copyrighted, 1896, by j. johnson Leak.

d. johnson Leak.
ties, but even the manager of a bank is
nothing but flesh and blood
Nothing happened for over a month Mr.
I Phillipson called at the bank occasionally.
and had short chat about nothing in par-
tlcular. Nothing was ever said about the
treasure which was l supposed, quietly
reposing i'll the cavernous-l looking cellars
below. never went down into the cellars.
so satisfied was l that everything was
right, must be right from the sheer neces-
sites or the precautions which had been
| taken.
Besides, as I said before. even a bank
manager is only so much flesh and blood.
AS a little child cannot play with edged
TOOLS without risk of mutilation so even
the most upright of men cannot gaze upon
vast treasure without feeling a desire to
possess it. especially when he could sim
ply take it and get perhaps a few weeks
start of possible pursuers
Not that l would have stolen the Jewels
but recognized this fact-that there might
be curse for me in looking too much
into their dazzling mysteries.
One day Mr. Phillipson came into the
| bank, evidently in a great hurry He
said he had come to say goodbye" as
he was going to India on the following day.
He might be away a good while; ne did not
hAOn CAdCliys ne udu certain business
to transact, and he was not sure Of the
time it would take to transact it.
| AS he shook hands with me he said "Mr.
| Norman, l leave those bits of stone in
your possession. You must not part with
them to anyone except my daughter or
Mr.. wilkinson
''Mr. Wilkinson" I asked in surprise.
"Oh! yes. 1 forgot to tell you about
him. Mr.. Wilkinson is a nephew of mine.
| g n vi q he (Npa nd &c
more than likely that Miss Phillipson
may give him the cypher some day and
ask him to call upon you for the jewels.
| She may not, of course, but if she does
it will be perfectly right. Goodbye"
Goodbye; pleasant Journey" I replied.
CHAPTER II.
Three days after the departure of Mr..
| Philipson, l received from Mr.. Wilkin-
son an invitation to dine with him that
evening at the Bull hotel. l must confess
that l was astonished when 1 received
this neatly-written epistle. Why should
he ask me to dine with him at all? Why
ask me to dine with him at the Bull
hotel when he was staying at the Grange?
| 1t seemed singular 1 had met Mr.. Wiki
| inson only once, and that was a purely
| formal meeting. One morning, when Miss
| Phillipson had a little BUSINESS to trans.
/ act with HE, ne accompanied ueI, anu
she went out of her way to introduce him
to me- I still remember, with almost
painful distinctness, that my first desire
on seeing his handsome face was to kick
| him rather than to shake hands with him
and express the commonplace greetings
usual on such occasions.
Why this feeling was within me it
would be difficult to say. The fact that
it was within me produces another piece
N1f1 20 ~ztt 1fNN OF fA Of
mind at the time. Surely 1 had no dream
of ever being accepted as a sutton for the
| hand of Miss Phillipson. And yet, | must
confesss that in some wild moments
| did cherish this hope. / felt, too, that he
was standing between us, and that the
prize-greater in value than all the jewels
was to be his rather than NINE
When 1 received that invitation l had
| half an hours hard reckoning with my
| self and the things that were springlng
up around me- 1 felt certain that
strange game was being played before my
eyes, and, like an average Englishman, l
was curious enough to feel desire to
| be in at the denouement l was anxious
| not to accept the invitation; was equally
anxious to accept it. The end of hare
struggle was an acceptance of the invi-
| tatlon.
| With all the strange facts now before me,
| am not sorry that 1 did accept the invita-
ton, as it enabled me to do a real serv-
| ice TO one l loved, but, alas, one who did
not love me in return.
Mr. Wilkinson proved charming host,
up to a certain point in our entertain
| ment, and then l began to read his char
acter as an average boy reads penny
book Literally, he forced the worst side
of his many-sided character upon me, and
could not do anything else than read
it. as a fairly intelligent man.
We spent an exceedingly pleasant hour
together Mr.. Wilkinson entertained me
with all manner of bright and cheerful
stories which he had picked up during
a life of adventure. He was handsome
man, and 1 hated him for that alone. He
was an accomplished man, and l hated
him all the more for that.
When the remains of the dinner were
removed, Mr.. Wilkinson rose and locked
the door of the private room in which We
were sitting with our cigars and whisky.
l wondered why he did such an unusual
thing.
81 hate to be interfered with when we
are engaged in a pleasant conversation,
he said. in the most careless and casual
way, which had some effect in making
me laugh at the suspicious which had
taKe n possession of me.
ooh, l think we are quite safe from in
corruption without taking the trouble 10
lock the door," l replied, by way OF
mild protest.
at is no trouble, my friend; it can do
no harm, anyway"
When he resumed his seat he startled
me by asking abruptly:
Are you a believer in mesmerism, or
hypnotism, as it has become the fashion
to call it, Mr. Norman
mot l." was my prompt and off-hand
reply.
"Ah, there are you make great mis-
take. 1t is a most delightful study You
know, there is a great deal in the theories
of old Mesmer." which modern science
cannot overturn or explain" he said,
with evident earnestness.
probably So but ! do not think that
knowledge of old Mesmer's theories wou
help me to tot up the columns of leS-
GER"
81 am going to give you proofs Of the
value of old Mesmer's theories in very
practical manner, for am going to mes