The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-11
The Passing Of.
hifton MandeviI.

Pail Mali Gazette.
That, said the colonel, putting finish to the
superstructure of cigar ash in the tray sis all very
we'll Spasm of the CLOTHS is good enough for jury
But what Mandevil quite clear he was going to
die Of that night and what 1 am quite clear 1 saw
him die of. was just simply strangulation. There
came that which took him by the throat and clutched
the life out Of him between pretty little thumb and
four six-and- aquarter fingers. Know it? My dear
chap the marks. Not mark on him when
they got him to the hospital? Yes, that so. 1
that too" $50 81
Now. as Mandevil had come to an end in the
midst of the supper crowd at the Sayarn hotel, the
colonel's presentment Of the matter appeared
what steep. STILL rule his perceptions were pro-
fessiona He unacquainted with the Of
the imaginative faculty; and to produce any very
marked psychological impression upon him you
would have to operate. His auditors took the steep
ness without impertinent comment. How he
going to get it. though?
"Ah" the narrator said. going back again into the
depths of his chair. now you're asking me. Or
course. there's that story of the family curse you
know. Believe in that sort of thing? They did.
Don't much wonder, either. And, L suppose, if you
do believe you've got family curse upon you you're
apt to do things that help it along make all
the easier for the next lot to believe in it. too We
the trouble began in the first rKirton's tme-our
Il
usual. An extremely fascinating little devil this
Lady Lith, by all accounts but not nearly careful
enough, with lord and master like that When he
found her out he took her in hand seriously that
the next thing a funeral However she must
have had considerable interest somewhere because
you bound to believe she certainly came back
Her husband found dead on the floor of his room
one morning with the look Of despair his face and
her sign manual on his throat-same 1
his pD6O nhovv'S tko Mat hnr
off. There have been nothing but male Mandeviis
born since, and not of em has died in his bed.
they tell you. Don't say that stick particularly
for dying in mine you know; three generations of It,
though. to mean something And that's not
all. The first Kirton had two younger brothers
Nothing happened to the second, who succeeded, till
he had seen all his wiped ont except the last
another Kirton Then the father was shot in a d,el
and, within the year. the son come for just like
his uncle. That let in the of the third brother
who was the father OF man. He and 1 were
gazetted to Ours the same day. Crimea. India.
Africa. and the rest Of it. He got scratch.
year and two days ago he put himself out-acci-
dentally they printed it. Well, there you are .
"After all that. do you wonder our Johnnie-ths
last Krton-felt that he down to be come for
like the other twot If he didn't. what's the use OF
heredity? You say this sort Of thing is all rot So
do lin We haven't been born with the
terror in our blood. It was no good telling Krton
that he was an haitused fool. He knew more about
himself than / could. Shoot himself? You bet he'd
thought of that, and what stopped him wasn't preju-
dice want Of pluck neither, Well. the life he
lived that last year would have been enough in the
of the average man. He it out; though
mind you If nothing had happened to him after al
he'd be In lunatc asylum tonight. Friday heo
asked me to dine with him here. Then we were to
go to the Empire, and end up with partie at
the Sayarin. 1 noticed dihed not at my regular
table in the corner, but right in the middle Of the
room, with other tables AL round us. Same at the
Empire; kept in the crowd all the time. Same a,
the SavaFn; centered the whole show. What's more,
he'd got his man, Somers, behind zhis@chair. VIVA,
did think going to happen? Well it struck me
that Krton internally sober, considering thar
it might all be going to mean jimjams. We
bit late sitting down. Kirton faced the door. He
had Lady Blanche on his right, and mamma his
left and 1 faced him. It close upon II before
we'd got to coffee. I'd kept an eye on Kirton all
along. You know the Mandevil sort of face--abour
the color Of drum-head. Then he was staring
right through me at the door, and his face had GOT
to be the color of that cigar ash Behind me there
seemed all at kind of commotion. When l
looked round the people between us and the door
were getting out of their chairs
"All the chatter and the clatter seemed to STOP /
fancy two squelked. heard one
woman, back of me, cry out, What's thaty to the
staring straight at There Kirton, sort of
pinned back in his chair; in it you'd have said; his
hands close to his throat at grips with nothing his
eyes half out Of his head, and his face-hem we'll
like other fellows that saw going through
till then. There q sort of Stampede Lady
Blanche became demonstrativeH The countess
gulped down another chartredse. u. Take US out or
this? she said to me; quick! Theres+there's some
thing awful here chat seemed to be the
general impression. Somers Actually told me after
wards that he felt 1t every tie he tried to get near
his master-felt something between 'em-like DEATH
he said-ti 1t all fSoniers' idea was that
kirton was at grips with this Something all the time
He's pretty matter-of-faet. ASA rule, too
when got back, after seeing the women Off the
premises, Mandevil lying hmpin his chair with
his head on the back of 1t. dead as Julius Caesar
Look at that, SIR Sonfers whispered to me-
Well certainly, there they we're on his throat plain
enough-the little thumb and the six-and-a auarter
fingers.
Lady Lith's? All, you're asking me again
Only one hand. Never used but one, 1t seems DID
feel anything unusual myself? Well L remember
Keeling an unusual sort Of draugh at the back of nv
neck, lust before nd fell