The Winslow mail., 1899-05-13
| MR>. PARKER

WAS during the period when. at
I I 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 tine Of
which l write Homburg was crowded.
and, although the season could scarce
! ly be said fairly to have begun, ii was
rumored and believed (even upon the
authority Of the newspapers that
Count r, an Italian uobicman, had
lost the whole ii his inheritance. some
where III the neighborhood Of million
lire. But the count kept his head, and
so regaired 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, q
young married couple. Mr. and Mrs.
| Parker-who, according to the register.
We're direct from London - attracted
great attention. Mr.. Parker was man
Of remarkably elegant mannt1s. lie
was tall well built, blond. in short 4
| splendid representative CT the English
| gentleman. lie had large. dreamy blre
eyes. and ren1a1 l1abiy fne set OF teeth.
most CT 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
flrst appearance on the promenade. had
attracted the attention, the surprise,
and, ii must be confessed, the envy
Of the rest Of the ladies. They main
| tanned, IN Opporition to the men, that
al the credit for Mrs. Parier's appear
arce should be given to the wonder
full skill Of English tailors, who could
transform such figure as 5irs. Parker
evidently naturally posscsssG into that
| Of Juno. Nj. Parker. Gu the otncr
hand $50, at least, the ladies main
ia;,cd), VS. SO spiendiGly Geve:opca
| that he did nor need to depend on the
art and skill of lis tailor. Those iaQirs
| who had seen Mrs Parker bathing told
wonderful stories of her marvellous II d
brown hair, which hung in prCfusicn
| below her waist. and which, when dry
! ing III the sun, shone like FURNISHED
gold. The fact that the lady had q
small mole on her neck was no longer
q 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 tool; TO
interest il 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 it was his pet life scheme to fur
| ;hcr its interests. To that end he de-
voted much time and d considerable
part of his fortune. When speaking Of
| the matter he as inclined TO underrate
| the sacrifices he made, and he treated
as triHirg the money which he devoted
to the development of the orphanaGe.
His daily pistol practice he contin-
ued without interruption. 1t did rot
! 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.
| 4 certain trifing service which
young baron had the opportunity OF
rendering to Mrs. Parker gave the
| yout hful nobeman the chance of max
! ing the acquaintance of the beautiful
| Englishwoman. Three weeks before
the baron in question has arrived ii
Hon1burg, 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, a prematurely aged woman
| was absolutely devoted o her boy. and
| slowed her devotion most touchingly
tut the son haG q by no means agree
| 4ble time. In the first place the diver
s;ons in Homburg were not, according
| 20 his ideas. numerous, and besides
under the watchful eye of doting
| mother. he found himself considerably
trammeled. He had managed on the
Quiet to play little, and that with sue
cess, and in quarter Of an hour he had
| won q sum which to such young fell
| low was a small fortune. Only Mrs
! Parker. to whom at the second meet
irg 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 vic
tim to her charms. The lady herself,
vho took not the slightest interest in
! her husbands pistol shooting, accepted
| tie advances of the baron very readily.
She was seen with him great deal. and
his elegant Ollendorf English seemed
| 30 afford her much pleasure. As she
was rarely seen with her husband. the
rest of the ladies became scandalized in
very short time. Tie admiration
Uhich Mrs. Parker had at first excited
gave place to mild contempt, and there
was 1,iIcb cbr11nrin0 Of chambers