Santa Fe new Mexican. [volume] (Santa Fe, N.M.) 1898-1951, 1899-11-10
OUT OF THE SEA.

OUT OF THE SEA.
Sir Jasper sat alone in his armchair by
the library fire. BY his side stood a small
carved oak table set with glasses for two,
a decanter of wine, a brier pipe, a tobacco
box and matches. Such was his custom,
and every night after dinner old John
Tregony, who had served him, boy and
man, as Tregony has ever served a Den
I'll, used to light the library candles and
lead Sir Jasper to his seat beside the fire,
placing the table handy to his side. Then
he would draw a large armchair to the
other side of the fireplace, as though in ex-
pectation Of a visitor, and, closing the door,
would leave Sir Jasper to his thoughts.
There Sir Jasper Denzil sat alone,
brooding over the past till the clock on the
mantelshelf struck 10. Then he poured
out wine and rose with glass uplifted
toward the empty chair. MANY happy
returns Of the day, my dear boy!" he said,
with a stately bow to the chair. "Gen-
tlemen," he continued, with a sweep of
his glass that appealed to the long rows Of
portraits Of dead and gone Denzils that
lined the oak paneled walls-''gentlemen
all, I give you a toast. Here's to the
health of my lear son, the heir of Mount
Royalp'
The other glass remained unemptied
and the brier pipe untouched. Sir Jasper
was no smoker, and the pipe belonged to
his only son, now lost to him.
Fifteen years ago they had parted in
anger, and Sir Jasper had never seen or
heard Of his boy beyond that he had died
in California of starvation and fever. He
had refused to believe this report, and
every night John Tregony, his butler,
would lay the glass and the pipe and place
the chair for Master Harry, who never
came.
HE will come tomorrow" Such had
been the burden Of Jasper Denzil's life for
Is long years, to the grief Of the faithful
John Tregony and the chagrin of Rufus
Denzil, Sir Jasper's nephew and his next
heir.
Rufus could not bear any reference to
Harry Denzil's fate, for his mind was un-
easy concerning a certain report which he
had caused to be inserted In a California
paper, and certain certificates which he
had obtained under false pretenses from a
trusting justice of the state Of California.
Tonight he felt restless and uneasy as
he viciously cannoned the balls on the bill
lizard table.
"What if he should not be dead after
allp'' he murmured. "Great Scott, how
it blows!' he added as a violent gust Of
wind shrieked with a rattle of rain across
the skylight.
He was glad when Tregony entered
with a slphon and spirits, for there were
no visitors in the house, and the loneli-
ness Of the billiard room oppressed him.
From the sea sounded the deep voice of
the wet westerly gale, mingled with the
distant crash Of the great waves as they
fell with a laundering boom on the black
rocky lodges of Mount Royal bay.
cts a bad night, john" remarked
Rufus to the old retainer.
AYE, aye, sir, it's a black night, and
there'll be some fat wrecks along the coast
by the morning" said John Tregony,
shaking his head less in sorrow than in
anticipation; for John came of an old
Cornish stock and found it hard to regard
a wreck otherwise than as a gift from the
SEQ.
"You wouldn't mind if there was a
wreck, eh, John?'' queried Rufus Denzil.
"Not a-zacktly tha-a-t, sir" replied
John slowly, "but if there is a wreck
well. there it is, and it's nc use a~-despisin
what a blessed Providence may send in
the way of salvage. Us don't put the ship
ashore, anyway"
Then John Tregony left the room, while
Rufus Denzil seated himself to drink deep
and to ponder over his affairs. .
He was head over heels in debt, and his
creditors were becoming clamorous. An
income of $500 per annum, even when
eked out by a first class hand at whist and
an unerring enc at billiards, he had
found insufficient to satisfy tastes that
were hardly to be indulged In by those
whose rent rolls represented five figures.
He turned uneasily in his seat as he
thought Of the old man in the library
who was so long a-dying.
He called to mind how Sir Jasper had
sent him, the next heir, to California in
search of the prodigal son and how the
old baronet had paid without a murmur
the tremendous bill of costs Of his two
years Of riotous extravaganza in the States.
He had located Harry I)enzil, together
with his wife, the penniless daughter of
the Methodist parson Of Mount Royal,
and the innocent cause of the rupture be-
tween father and son.
Worse still, he had found that Harry
Denzil had q baby son., who, though the
father was dying and in Strengthened cir
cumstances, was a thriving and healthy
child and likely to grow up to continue
the succession to Mount Royal.
Denzil' Is illness he'd suggested the first
thought of evil, and Rufus surrendered to
temptation. He destroyed the letter of
forgiveness that Sir Jasper had intrusted
to him and sought no interview with his
1 norant Of the fact that the young English
man who for Q night or two had cut such
q dash at the Piazza hotel was his W
kith and kin.
About this time one of his boon com.
p~anions, q man without name or national
ity, died in a small mining camp. The
dead man was unknown in the place, and
Rufus, with an eye to the future, had reg
istered his death under the name Of Harry
Denzil.
With a copy Of the certificate and a copy
of a Sacramento journal, in which he had
Inserted q notice Of the death, he returned
to Sir Jasper, arguing within himself that
as Harry Denzil was probably dead there
would be no harm In assisting at his
burial in this fashion.
An for the next heir, Sir .Jasper's grand
Motics tor Publication.