The age-herald., 1899-07-23

Had your breakfast yet?" said Clar- ence by way of salutation, as he blew in on me early one Sunday morning. And when I answered that my breakfast had been eaten and was in a fair way of diges- ton, he went on briskly, "Then put on your coat and come out. I want to intro- duce you to my friend. the brigand'
 With my knowledge of Clarence's ante eedents, I made sure of hearing that this strange friend of his was some picturesque parsonage from northern Greece or south ern Italy. that they had met years before in the brigands own native land and I was prepared that Clarence had invited the distinguished foreigner to leave an effete and overworked field of enterprise and try his fortunes, with Clarence for guide iR the commercial metropolis of the new world. These conjectures proved to be wide of the mark.
 As he led me through a succession of curiously crooked and altogether unat- tractive streets between Broadway and the North River. Clarence told me that he had only recently made the acquaintance of this interesting gentleman, and that they had met in New York As for his be- ing q brigand. said Clarence, the term was not strictly applicable to him, because in the first place. according to the mans own story he had never committed any brigand- age at all, and, in the second place. what ever might have happened over there in classic lands along the gulf of Corinth MT. Phistekopulos was now trying to lead the life of an honest. if humble, American cit izen on the lower west side of New York He told me that his friends sirname had been of considerable embarrassment to him on account of it's five syllables and gener- ally intractability to American mouths and that. for the sake of convenience the Phis- tekopulos children had been entered at the public schools under the name of Chonas- l afterwards found out that "Chonas" was the only way Mir Phstekopulos pro- nounced Jones'"
 'When you see the man." said Clarence ''you will be interested in him. know Be- sides, you take any more stock in the stor- ies tell you. so I thought it would be bet ter to let you get the adventures of poof Phisty first hand"
 And why do you call him poor Phis- ty'?" I asked.
 'He is a victim of fate" said Clarence. Wait till he tells you for himself"
 when l arrived with Clarence at the din- BY apartments in dingy house that had seen better days, in crooked street and met MT. Phistekopulos face to face, 1t 'eeheu to me perfectly natural that he should be called brigand. His way of He might be utterly blameless and his re- venues might have been always derived rom the preparation of tobacco for use in cigarettes-which was his present occu- paton-but his face was the face of a rob- Der baron. His head. which was as black as ink. was stiff and forked. and his mous- tache fiared defiantly, like a cats His dis tingushed courtesy of manner only made II seem all the more probable that he had been engaged in hilarious practices all his life. for this was not the air of a humble cigarette-seller by any means.
 When Phistekopuos, alias Jones. had made us perfectely at home in his room Whicn was uncomfortably warm, and crowded With the apparatus of the cigar ette-making trade, Clarence dropped his