Griggs courier., 1897-10-08

knew 6Ome very 8uu6lug carU tE1CA0s &
soid Mr.. Dane, with sudden flash OF
memory. II wonder whether could do
them now? Some of them were very
ingenious. Let me see-there was one
now how did it go?" He picked up
the pack of cards, and was handling
them uncertainty. "Ah, I remember.
Please choose a card, Mr.. Peyton. Now
you are quite certain you will know It
again? Place it in the pack, SO. Now
I will shuttle them. You observe 1 have
not seen the face of the card. Now
deal them into three heaps, shuttle
again, deal. This is your card, Mr.. Pey-
ton, believe. the four of spades?"
"Quite right, Mr.. Dane. What won
derfully neat trick. must get you to
explain it to me by and by"
'It wasn't the four of spades, it was
the deuce of hearts," put in the Aus
tralian, rudely.
~ think you are mistaken" said Mr..
Feyton, suavely.
'"Oh, know several more tricks"
said Rev. Thomas, full of pride at his
success. "Now this is very clever, You
See these three cards. Now, the queen
is in the middle. hold them losely in
my fingers-se"
The door opened, and, looking up
with start, they saw the manager in
the room.
"Well, sir, what do you want here?''
said Col. Staunton, brusquely.
II have come to ask you, the man
calling himself Peyton, and Rev.
Thomas Dane, to leave the hotel at
once," said the manager, coolly.
''What do you mean by insulting gen.
hemen?" clustered the colonel; but
the other raised his hand.
"Come, come, there's no use in that.
We all know you. You've done time in
Sing Sing, and have dozen other
names. Mr.. Aubrey Peyton, alias Mon
tague Ward, alias Clement Mortimer,
alias Slippery Jack, is the cleverest gard
sharper in Europe or America. Rev.
Thomas Dane we believe to have been
known as Yankee Bill the Baker. Tho
whole gang of you have come over to
London to operate on jubilee jugginses,
but we don't want any Of you here, so
for your own sakes you had better clear
out with as little fuss as possible"
"Do you mean to say they are all card
sharpers?" cried the Australian, who
had sat thunderstruck.
Cali. And you may be very thankful
their little game was brought to close
so soon."
Mr.. Dean had sat with wide mouth
or1 cfo, auos hut horo ho e,,rorsp
excitedly to his feet.
''Sir, you grossly insult me. I am a
clergyman of the Church Of England.
I have been as much imposed upon by
these scoundrels as anyone. Irefuse to
leave this hotel.''
"Oh, I've seen your sort of parson be-
FORE" said the manager, with a grin.
''You don't suppose I've run hotel all
these years for nothing. Come on, go
quietly, and you won't be hurt
"Here, you'll" shouted Mr.. Dane, turn
ing excitedly to Peyton, who had pushed
his chair back from the table, and sat
listening with cool smile, do me at
least the justice to say we never met un-
til four days ago."
A queer CLEAN came into Peyton's
languid eyes. "Come, come, Bill, it's
no use bluffing any more. You're bound
to lay down your hand. The boss holds
the joker. Better go and pack your
togs quickly, like the colonel and me.
There's no sense in having the tees in
with that little matter of writing Wal
dorf Astor's name by mistake still un-
settled, and so you'd see if you hadn't a
thought too much Pommery Greno in
side your skin"
Perhaps he had hit on the true source
of Mr.. Danes valor, but be that as it
may, the reverend gentleman stoutly
refused to leave. And, finally, the mana
ger, losing his patience, sent for a stall
wart Swiss waiter to eject him, treat
ing his threats of the law as an idle
thing.
Now it CHANGED that that very night,
Charlie Sinclair had come up to the
Hotel Berti to school dinner, and hear
ing scufae, waited to see what it was
about, but he could hardly believe his
eyes when he saw Rev. Thomas being
forced down the main staircase by
strong and phlegmatic waiter, his face
crimson, his hair on end, his white tie
with its bow rakishly under one ear,
and shouting most awful threats of
vengence.
Its gang of card-sharpers we are
turning out" explained the manager.
'Why, Mr.. Dane! What are you do
ing here;" exclaimed Sinclair, thunder.
struck.
At the sound of familiar voice, the
vicar gave cry of relief. "Oh. Charlie,
my boy, is that you? For Heavens
sake, come and tell these ruffians who
I am"
''Do you know him, Mr.. Sinclair" said
the manager, to whom Charlie was
well-known customer. 1--WE found him
playing cards with two well-known card
sharpers and rich Australian they
were going to pigeon"
'"There is some mistake about it.
This gentleman is Rev. Thomas Dane,
vicar of Slocum Pogis, and am quite
ready to vouch for his respectability,"
said Charlie.
"Oh, of course, that alters the case"