Cañon City record., 1899-02-02
/ MR.. PARKER

IT WAS during the period when, At
L certain German bathA, the visitors
were of all nationalities- Such are the
baths where the tedium OF the cure n
enlivened by the various gamer 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, II wa<
rumored and believed (even upon the
authority Of the newspapers) that
Count B., an Italian nobleman. ha6
lost the whole Of his inheritance. some
where in the neighborhood of a millior
lire. But the count kept his head, ant
SO regained the greater part Of his for.
tune, which had been won from hin
by French actress to whom he was
devoted. He married the actress, and
thus got his revenge
Among the visitors TO Homburg, 6
young married couple. Mr.. and Mrs,
Parker-who, according to the register
were direct from London attracted
great attention. Mr.. Parker was mar
of remarkably elegant manners. He
was tall, well built. blond, in short 8
splendid representative of the English
gentleman. He had large, dreamy blue
/. eyes, and remarkably 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.
. Mrs. Parker. on the occasion of her
first appearance on the promenade, had
! attracted the attention, the surprise
and. il must be confessed, the envy
of the rest of the ladies' They main
tanned. in oppoeition 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 a Juno. Mr.. Parker. on the other
hand ESQ, at least, the ladies main
tainedJ. was SO splendidly deveiop,'
that he did MOI need to depend on the
art and skill Ct 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 nc
interest in the gambling table while
he attracted attention by the regularity
with which he devoted himself to pis-
toi 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 be was
SO devoted that he passed a 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 it was his pet life scheme TO fur
sher fits interests. To that end he de-
voted much time and a considerable
part of his fortune. When speaking Of
the matter he " as inclined to underrate
the sacrifices he made, and he treated
Us trifiing the money which he devoted
to the Development Of the orphanage-
His daily pistol practice he eontin-
ued without interruption. IT did not
fncommcde him in the least when the
visitors crowded around to witness his
skin. OF their applause he took no no
tice, nor did he allow himself to be
drawn into anything approaching an
exhibition.
A certain trifiipg service which
young baron had the opportunity OF
rendering TO Mrs. Parker gave the
Youthful nobleman the chance of max
ing the acquaintance of the beautiful
Enriishwoman. Three weeks before,
the baron in question has arrived in
Homburg, accompanied by his mother.
The. OBJECT OF his visit was to restore
his health. which had been completely
undermined by his fast life HIS
mother. q prematurely aged woman
was absolutely devoted to her boy and
slowed her devotion most touchingiy.
hut the son had a by no means agree
able time. In the first place the diver
sions in Homburg were not, according
20 his ideas, numerous, and besides
under the watchful eye of dottng
mother, he found himself considerably
,rammeled- He had managed on the
quiet to play n little. and that with sue
cess, and in quarter of an hour he had
won a sum which to such a young fel-
low was a small fortune Only Mrs.
Parker. TO whom at the second meet
ing he had. boylike. opened his heart
knew how much he had won The
whole affair was carefully kept secret
from the mother.
The baron was most devoted in his
attention to Mrs. Parker. and showed
quite plainly that he had fallen a VIC
tim to her charms. The lady herself
Who took not the slightest interest in
her husbands pistol shooting, accepted
the advances of the baron very readily.
She was seen with him great deal. and
his elegant Ollendorf English seemed
20 afford her much pleasure. As she
was rarely seen with her husband. the
rest of the ladies became scandalized in
a very short time. The admiration
which Mrs. Parker had at first excited
gave place to mild contempt. and there
was much Struggling of shoulders
among the women. The men. instead
Of referring to Mr.. Parker as devilish
nice chap. began TO say: "A most re
markable husband" for he alone
seemed to have no suspicion Of what
was happening. and quietly continued
his pistol practice.
The cataxtrorhe followed sooner
than was generally expected In the
eyes OF Homburr Mrs. Parker had COM
promised herself. An ugly rumor,