The Wilmington daily Republican. (Wilmington, Del.) 1890-1902, 1901-02-20
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In hurriedly.
Bully Mcknight WIS q smart man,
and struck some close things, but he
was no more entitled to state prison
than those he fought with on Wall
street. Any stick is good enough to
beat a dog with, and your enemies
will talk tall about surrenderlng i'll
gotten gains, because 1t is good show
card. do not think you need lie
awake wondering whether you should
make restitution to the widow and
the fatherless-anyway, not till it's
forced upon you. as it may be-"
h "And you can save me from that?"
"Or worse. We think you will be
well advised to consider our offer. II
we can be of any service to you. re-
member our telephone number is 2S7,-
B58, and l shall reply personally or by
proxy at any time, day or night. You
have also my address, 80 Norfolk
street, Strand. l reside there, on the
premises. shall be proud to receive
your instructions, and-if it Is not too
Iate--to come to your assistance on the
shortest notice. Good day, captain.
Think well Of what say"
How was I to take all this? Serious
ly? l had read in every schoolbook Of
the snares and pitfalls Of great wealth,
but had never dreamed-who could?-of
dangers SO strange and terrible as
hot ~ 7
to give credence to this extraordinary
tale.
Some one hailed me as passed down
Piccadilly, and, turning, l recognized
a. man l knew, Lawford by name,
big, buyly, fat voiced man, with jet
black beard so Enthusiastically dyed
that it Increased his years and gave
an unwholesome tinge to his pallid
complexion. He had greasy, fawning
manners-an assumption Of bonhomie
that you instinctively distrust l never
cared for him much, but he always
pretended 10 be devilish fond Of me.
+, l had met this Lawford on the other
side of the Atlantic, in the South Amer
lean city where had spent some time
in a recent mission. He gave 1t out
that he was prospecting for gold in
those parts, but many believed that he
was a spy and secret agent of the
American government. Then we came
home together in the same steamer,
and | was much thrown with him on
board. He was on his way to England
to make his and every ones fortune,
mine included. l confess the fellow
amused me, his schemes were SO tire.
mendous; he had such profound be.
lief In himself and in the simplicity of
the British public.
b eyes, sir shall spoil them; stick
them up and carry off a pile of plum
der. You'll do well to cut in with me,
captain. You'd strike 1t rich; yes, sir.
l can dispose of 10000 acres of real
estate which is just honeycombed with
gold. The greater part belongs to me,
Rufus Lawford, but l won't part till
your darned capitalists have unbutton.
ed. But they will that when they've
bCpu ploSpCNthSSo anu MUM 'hy
witchlng tongue
/ Lawford had not found the innocents
of the city SO easy to beguIe. He pass
ed through many phases Of good and
evil fortune in the months that follow
ed his arrival. l saw him from time to
time, now gorgeous, now looking like
q sweep. Sometimes he was Oh the
eve of pulling off some gigantic opera
ton; at others he was In the depths Of
despair and borrowed sovereign ION
account" Of the great fortune he meant
some day to force on me. He evidently
did not prosper In his schemes of pro-
motion. But he still hung upon the
frontiers of finance, in the neutral, de-
batable ground where every mans hand
Is against his fellows and frank brig
nndage is more or less the rule.
! was surprised to find him in the
west end. and told him So as he over
took me with the fifth" Globe in his
hand.
! "IIello! Hello! I'm taking holl-
day. Those galoots eastward won't
bite, and | thought I'D give myself an
airing In the park. Never expected to
see YOU" which was deliberate lie, for
I had reason to know later that he had
come out for that very purpose. See
your name in the papers. Presume it's
you? They've got the whole story.
Fine fortune, young sir; fine. Wish
you JOY"
, thanked him, not overcordially per-
haps; for the man bored me, and
guessed that his was only an early at
tack upon my new found millions.
"Now, Captain Wood, | am delighted
to have met you, for may be able to
give you little advice, You will be
assailed on all sides. You capitalists
are the natural game of the promoters.
Give them a wide berth. There's q
mass Of villainy about. Don't trust
them--not a man of them. If you're
IN any difficulty, II you've got n few
thousands to play with at any time
you come straight to me. shall be
delighted to serve you-for yourself,
mind, and for the sake of old times,
for knew Bully Mcknight we'll"
"Ah, indeed! Tell me about him.
You knew him." ! was eager to hear
more of the man from whom my
strangely unexpected fortune had
come.
! II knew old McFaught-knew him
we'll and did business with him, Dut
hot so much as l could have liked
worse luck! If l could have got upon
his shoulders, ! should have Waltzed
into unbounded wealth. But you had
10 be with him, not against him. he
made some men, but he ruined more
ptock, lock and barrel. 1t don't matter
10 YOU anyhow whether he piled up
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