The Forrest City times. [volume] (Forrest City, Ark.) 1871-1919, 1898-12-16
MR.. PARKER

1 NAS uuTlHS the pcIlOu WHcu, dt
certain German baths, the visitors
were of all nationalities. Such are the
baths where the tedium of the cure is
enlivened by the various games Of
chance. At the particular time of
which / write Homburg was crowded,
and, although the season could scarce
ly be said fairly to have begun, IL was
rumored and believed (even upon the
authority of the newspapers) that
Count b, an Italian noblcman. had
lost the whole of his inheritance, some
where in the neighborhood of million
lire But the count kept his head and
80 regained the greater part of his for
tune, which had been won from him
by French actress to whom he was
devoted. He married the actress, and
thus got his revenge.
Among the visitors to Homburg, a
young married couple, Mr.. and Mrs.
Parker-who, according to the register,
were direct from London attracted
great attention. Mr.. Parker was a ma II
of remarkably elegant manners. He
was tall, we'll built, blond, in short a
splendid representative of the English
gentleman. He had large, dreamy blue
eyes, and rema rkably fine set of teeth.
most of which he displayed when his
lips parted in smile. From which
it will be gathered that his mouth was
not small.
first appearance on the promenade, had
attracted the attention, the surprise,
and, it must be confessed, the envy
Of the rest of the ladies'. They main
tanned, in opposition to the men, that
all the credit for Mrs. Parker's appear
ance should be given to the wonder
full skill of English tailors, who could
transform such figure as Mrs. Parker
evidently naturally possessed into that
of Juno. Mr. Parker. on the other
hand ESQ, at least, the ladies main
tained), was SO splendidly develope d
that he did not need to depend on the
art and skill of his tailor. Those ladies
who had seen Mrs. Parker bathing told
wonderful stories of her marvellous red
brown hair, which hung in profusion
below her waist. and which, when dry
ing in the sun, shone like FURNISHED
gold. The fact that the lady had a
small mole on her neck was no longer
a secret after the third day of her stay
at Homburg.
Mr.. Parker had the greatest contempt
for gambling in which he could not
be tempted to indulge, and he took no
interest in the gambling table, while
he attracted attention by the regularity
with which he devoted himself to pis-
tol practice in the southern part of the
hotel grounds. By the second day all
the visitors had heard wonderful stories
of his marvellous skill.
Mr.. Parker confessed to two weak
nesses elephant hunting and
philanthropy. To the former he was
SO devoted that he passed part of
each year in India. His philanthropic
undertakings found employment for
him during the winter. He spoke of
an orphanage which he had founded and
endowed at Hamarby, county of York,
England, and made no secret of the fact
that 1t was his pet life scheme to fur
ther its interests. To that end he de-
voted much time and considerable
part of his fortune. When speaking of
the matter he W as inclined to underrate
the sacrifices he made, and he treated
as trifling the money which he devoted
TO the development of the orphanage.
His daily pistol practice he contin-
ued without interruption. 1t did not
incommode him in the least when the
visitors crowded around to witness his
skill. OF their applause he took no no
tice, nor did he allow himself TO be
drawn into anything approaching an
exhibition. :.
A certain trifling service which a
young baron had the opportunity of
rendering to Mrs. Parker gave the
youthful nobleman the chance of MAX
ing the acquaintance of the beautiful
Englishwoman. Three weeks before,
the baron in question has arrived in
Homburg, accompanied by his mother.
The object of his visit was to restore
lis health, which had been completely
undermined by his fast life. His
mother. a prematurely aged woman,
was absolutely devoted to her boy, and
showed her devotion most touchingly,
but the son had a by no means agree
able time. In the first place the diver
sions In Homburg were not, according
10 his ideas. numerous, and besides.
under the watchful eye of Q doting