Omaha daily bee., 1899-12-24

also one of the Haselemere colony, living
next door to DR.. Doyle. The natural beau
ties of the surroundings impress themselves
on the mind at once, From his rear or
perhaps front veranda-for the house seems
to have a front where the rear should be
the owner can look directly down the valley
to its foot five miles away Both sides con-
tain thickly wooded groves divided by wide
patches of neither with here and there a cul-
tivated field or a strip of pasture land. Six
hundred feet above the sea, it is high enough
to get the invigorating air of such attitudes,
while from the English channel, but twenty
miles away, comes the pleasant sea breeze.
A glance at Doyle indicates how well this
country is suited to his tastes and habits.
He might be 45-he might be 40. 1t is hard
to say, as he stands over six feet, a fine
specimen Of the vigorous, hardy manhood
native to Great Britain. His strong, reso-
lutte features are tanned by exposure in the
cricket field, on the tennis court and by sea-
son after season OF bird and rabbit shooting.
1t can. be seen at once that he needs no
toniCs for nervousness or dyspepsia. Appar-
emily he has no nerves, for whether hand
ling a cricket bat in a decisive play or sight
ing his gun in a supreme moment, one cam
not trace a tremor of the muscles or a
culver OF the e"elids. Indoor and outdoor
exercise have given him muscles of STEEL and
the suppleness and agility of a youth in his
teens.
Vigorous C~hnrncters.
AS one turns the pages OF such books as
9TH White Company" Micah Clark" anil
"Brigadier Gerard" he is struck with the
rugged manliness, of the principal characters,
while throughout each work a tone of vigor
and virility prevails which is original with
the writer. Talk with him even for a half
hour and you realize that they are the prod
uct OF a mind not enfeebled by over-exer-
ton, but nourished and strengthened from
a superb system. In a word, he has not de-
veloped his mental faculties at the expense
of the others, but has kept both well bal
anced with the result that today he seems
as capable of accomplishing as much in the
literary field as he has already accomplished
and perhaps more.
He has built up his constitution so that
today he is capable of enduring any amount
OF fatigue without being the worse for II.
The four miles from Hindhead to Halesmere
is a short walk for him and many times a
year does he cover it. Probably everyone
for ten miles around knows him by sight, for
his figure is familiar to the country folk.
Naturally of a peaceful disposition the
author is not to be trlled with any more
ludu SOlIlt Ol lut tldIdtltIb III MS VIKINGS,
He is a great believer in fair play, and on
more than one occasion has stooa up for
the weaker man in trouble to the cost of his
assailant. They tell a story about Hasle-
mere of a little adventure in which he took
part at Southsea, near Portsmouth, his
former home. Many of the cart drivers at
Southsea have boys to help deliver their
loads. One morning as the doctor was get
ting a little exercise 10 Whpf his apDatifa
for breakfast, one of these carts came along.
The driver, a heavily built man, had been
drinking until he was in an ugly mood. For
some reason he became angry with the boy
and, stopping his horse, began beating the
lad with the handle of his whip. He was
so busily engaged that he did not know any
one else was interested until a hand grasped
him by the shoulder and pulled him headlong
into the street. Il think you've done about
enough Of this, my man"
It's no business of such gentry as you
TO interfere when the young rascal needs a
beating and the enraged driver, who had
struggled to his feet, drew back his WHIP to
strike the newcomer. The doctors right fist
landed on his face and he went down like
a log. When he arose It was to apologize,
The fight had been, to use a slang phrase,
knocked out Of him"
They call him "Kenn'n Doyle" in the
neighborhood. The word Conan" seems TO
be difficult to use and IS so commonly mis-
pronounced and misspelled, as the writer has
indicated, that at the time OF his visit he saw
a box from London directed to MIR. Canon
Doyle, Hindhead, and probably no one rel
ished the joke conveyed in that religious title
more than the author himself.
But little sign Of literary work is to be