Abilene weekly reflector. [volume] (Abilene, Kan.) 1888-1935, 1898-10-13

end even to become engaged to her
The justly irate father Immediately
put his daughter ON a diet Of pear
barley and water, reducing her in five
days to a mere skeleton and complete
submission. The engagement wal
broken of, and the impudent preten'
der discharged.
For weeks Leaver sought employ.
ment, but in vain, till at last he was
glad to ship as purser's clerk on q
line of steamers to New Zealand. On
that very line every member Of the
stsf-I'm not up in the nautical
terms-is allowed to do a little trad.
ing on his own account. Leaver did
his in bottles-yes, sir, bottles. He
used to ship big crate full Of them
and by some arrangement with the
stevedore got them slowed near his
bunk or with the stewards stores
Then this young rascal began circu-
lating the world with his bottles,
stewing the bay, the Atlantic and Pa
cifc with his libels. Now, Lavine,
Reddish's ships, as you know, are
called the Ben Line.
From the time Of his shipping with
that company the shores Of two hem
ispheres were bestrewn with sealed
bottles, which when opened always
contained some such screed as this:
BEN Nevis, Liverpool to Sydney.
Sprung leak in dead calm; boatl
useless or, Ben Rhydding. Sinking
fast; plates stove in through shifting
OF cargo. My love to ALL
"When these bottles were first
found Mr.. Ellis was alarmed, and so
were the underwriters, and being
much under-insured, he was willing,
and even glad, to insure the ship the
bottle referred to for a bit more. His
loss in extra premiums alone has thus
amounted to over four figures, for
every one of the ships has turned up
safely. And still this unabashed libel.
Ter went on casting his bottles on the
waters. And every statement was not
only forgery and a lie, it was also
. libel. 1t invariably took away the
character of one Of the Ben ships
excellent craft, sir, all classed Al at
Lloyds. What was the consequence?
Sailors grew afraid Of the line, and
English ones fatty refused to join, so
Mr.. Ellis has had to employ Dutch
men, Swedes and even Portuguese,
thus adding greatly to the perils Of
navigation. But worse. Shippers de.
clined to ship by the line except at
greatly reduced rates, and the fair
fame of the line seems irretrievably
ruined"
"But is the defendant worth -"
Worth fighting? OF course he is.
We show that he has been in partner.
ship with Overton, the man at Lloyd's,
who has written every line he had Of
fered by way of reinsurance by the
Ben ships. The rates have been enor-
nous, and the doctors have been
hard at work on them, and Overton
and young Leaver have made their
fortunes, Mind you, our case is com.
plete. We have experts to prove that
the contents of the bottles were in his
handwriting, the steward who saw
him throw the bottles out of the port
holes, and the clerk who overheard
him make his terms with 0verton. It's
chance that a junior doesn't get
once in century, and if Frogmore
hadn't spoken so highly of you to me
l shouldn't let you have it now"
l agreed with him absolutely, and
yet hesitated. If | throw away this
chance | might never have another,
and this probably would make my
fortune. Surely Eugenia, whose COM
mon sense is as remarkable as her
uncommon income. would be the first
to bid me accept this pregnant brief.
Besides. l could plead in writing that
1t was for her sake that | accepted 1T.
"Of course" he went on, uncon-
sciously putting new temptations in
my way, "if you do your part to my
satisfaction, | shant forget you. And
as to your retainer, suppose we say
twenty-five, and five guineas day,
eh?"
Cant you make it forty and tent"
I asked.
mo-
He drew me a check for twenty-six
pounds five and passed it to me with
the brief.
I wrote am admirable letter to Eu-
genia, stating that, regarding my in
terests now as hers, | dare not jeop-
ardize them. Then / went out and
spent three-fourths of that well-worn
sovereign in a dainty little lunch.
This digested, sought the bank, en-
tered it with dignity, saw the mana
ger, paid in the check, and drew ten
pounds on account.
The next day was Thursday, and I
gave 1t up, not to thoughts Of the Pro-
vost's ball, but to the study of my
brief and the preparation of my ad-
dress.
I rose betimes on Friday morning,
took the train to Richmond, and after
.- hours row on the river came
back to town ana straight 10 court.
ELLIS VS.. Leaver" was the next case
ON the list.
At lunch time I found, to my dis