Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1898-01-13
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(1EH yrRLOTTF III
aS ggg.:e BRAENE
CHAPTER T.


safes securely fastened, shelves filled with
works on the British law and constitu-
tion, bill-fles that could literally hold no
more, maps of different estates lying care
lessly open, large inkstands, pens and
sheets of plotting paper.
Pen in hand, his keen, shrevd face full
of deep thought, the owner and Occupier,
Arley Ransome sat at the square table,
large parchment deed spread open be-
fore him. He read Oh and on, the lines
of his face relaxing until cold, satirical
smile curled his lips. He started as
though half alarmed when his clerk, open
ing the door Of the room, suddenly an
nounced:
'The Earl of Caravcn, sir"
Il am ready to see him. was the reply.
But before the earl entered the lawyer
quickly folded up and put away the deed
that had engrossed his attention.
Gam too soon?" asked a mellow, indO
lent voice.
Arley Ransome looked up with a smile
at the speaker.
mo, my lord; was expecting YOU"
at is something after the fashion in
which a spider expects a fly" said the
young nob,eman. There is one thing to
be said, l am perfectly resigned fly. l
know that evil hours await me, and am
prepared for them. l suppose that L
should furnish an excellent moral as a
lesson for all bad boys
You would form an excellent warning,
my lcrd," was the grave reply.
at is the same thing. And now [ am
prepared for the worst What is it?''
THE worst, my lord, is utter, irretriev
able ruin-ruin SO complete and SO entire
that do not see a chance of saving even
one shilling from the wreck
The earl listened quite calmly; his lips,
half-hidden by the fair mustache, grew
a trifle paler-but there was no finching
in the handsome, haggard face.
utter ruin" he repeated. "Well, as
they say in bonny Scotland, you cannot
both eat your cake and have it. "
''True, my lord" assented the lawyer.
Arley Ransome, lawyer and money
BENDER, the calm, inscrutab,e man Of bust
ness, looked at the young earl-perhaps
he wondered at his perfect calmness, then
he glanced at a sheet of paper lying ON the
desk.
at will not be pleasant to hear Lord
Caraven," he said, slowly. ''ro begin.
AT the age Of twenty-one you succeeded
to the Rayensmere estates and titie; the
estates were clear of all debts and incum-
brances; the rent roll was thirty thousand
per annum; there was, besides, Il sum OF
fifty thousand pounds in the Funds, the
savings of the late earl-that is correct,
believer"
quite so,' was the curt reply.
You are now twenty-eight years of
age, my lord, and in seven years you have
run through fortune
Keep to facts, no comments-plain
facts" said The earl.
1.-THE plain facts are these" continued
the lawyer-''the fifty thousand went, l
believe, to pay the first years losses on
the Derby"
yet my horse won," interrupted Lord
Caraven.
1.-THE winning of that Derby was your
ruin, my lcsd. After that you continually
forestaIIed your income by borrowing
money; then your losses Oh the turf and
the gaming table were so great that you
were compelled to raise a heavy mort
gage on the estate; then you borrowed
money on the pictures, the plate and the
furniture ut Rayensmerc. In fact, my
lord, briefly told, your situation is this
you are hopclessly helplessly ruined.
You owe sixty thousand pounds mortgag sc
money, and owe forty thousand pounds
borrowed money-and you have nothing
to pay it with. You received notice from
me six months since that the mortgage
money was called in. Unless it is paid in
six weeks from now the estate-Ravens-
mere Castle, with all its belongings
passes from, you: it will be seized with all
it contains. May | ask what you think
of doingT
"You may ask-I know no answer. In
six weeks | lose Ravensmere, and with
it all sources of income, and. besides that,
I am forty thousand pounds in debt, and
/ have not forty shiliings to pay it with
1t seems to me there is but one thing to
be DONE
Arley Rans-.ne looked up anxiously.
''What is that?" he asked.
Il had better invest the trifle / have
remaining in the purchase of a revolver
you can imagine for what purpose; it
will be but 4 fitting end to such a career
as mine. ] really do not think, Ransome,
shat have had hundred thousand
pounds werth OF Pleasure. What COM
Ments the newspapers will make upon
me. They viii head their paragraphs,
Suicide of Spendthrift Earr-they will
draw excellent morals and warnings from
my fate. Men of MY age will read it and
th;ak what Il dupe / must have been; it
will not be a noble ending for the last of
the Caraveas.
He spoke calmly. rs though he were ar
ranging some Plan of travel. Arley Ran
some locked adniringiy at him.
How this blue blood tclls!' thought
abe lawyer "Same men would have cried
and moaned, would have asked for time
and for pity. lie faces ruin much as his
ancestors faced death on the battlefield
Then, seeing the earls eyes fixed on him,
Ae said, 1T is sorry ending, my lord"
Ses, sorry ending for the last of the