The leader., 1905-05-06


MIR. ELIJAH COBB is a well-known
lv if not altogether highly-respect-
ed resident in Dunstead. He is man
with past 1t is true that since the
past occurred he has striven by
years of diligent rectitude to. live it
down, but news is scarce in Dunstead
and the gossips win not readily let a
good thing go. If you should stroll
into the Dunstead Arms one evening
when there is a goodly company pres
ent and adroitly turn the conversation
in the direction of Elijah Cobb you
will gradually receive the impression
that Cobb is man with fatal habit
of running off with other peoples cash
boxes and spending the proceeds in
London in wild orgies that for brillian-
cy Of color and wealth of detail throw
even the Arabian Nights into the
dull gray shade. Mr.. Cobb's business
interests lie in Dunstead, and though
he would be perfectly willing to begin
life all over again elsewhere, Mrs.
Cobb is emphatically prepared to see
him hanged first.
Mr.. Cobb is the grocer and general
dealer of Dunstead, as was his father
before him. He is fat, bald-h headed
little man, and at the time of his sad
lapse from grace he was probably just
as fat, if not quite so bald. His offense
is deplorably exaggerated by the fact
that at the time he was a man of SO
with family of eight daughters and
two sons, the latter being mere tod
dlers in pinafores.
Then one day Mrs. Cobb told him
that an elderly gentleman had called
to know whether they had a room to
let. The gentleman was very old, in
deed, but very active, though as a
man of business he was distinctly in
ferior. He offered Is shillings week
for a bedroom and the use of the EAR
lor, and, as Mrs. Cobb afterward re-
marked, he could have bought a house
for himself for that money anywhere
in Dunstead. Mr.. Cobb attempted to
convince his wife that it was his own
superior business ability that had tri-
umphed in this instance, but the good
soul speedily discovered that her hus.
bands strength merely existed by rea-
son of the others weakness. The old
gentleman gave his name as Braith-
waite. In case, he added Mr. and Mrs
Cobb should desire to know more
about him he would inform them that
he was a professor of palaeontology
connected with the British museum.
AS far as possible he desired to have
his presence there kept secret, as he
believed he was on the eve of very
astounding discovery. 1t had come to
his ears that some neolithic arrow
heads, to be attributed to the tertiary
epoch, had been found on Dunstead
common, and he had come down with
authority to- investigate the matter. II
fortune favored him he hoped to find
traces of even the earlier epochs, and
the value of such discovery would
If she could recommend a steady and
reliable young man who was not
afraid of work, as there would prob
ably be lot of digging to be done
Mrs. Cobb gave it up. She said she
could recommend a. most reliable
youth, and she also said that the pro
fessor would be as comfortable in her
house as in his own home. But at the
earliest moment she took her husband
on one side and said that no good
could come of har5oring lunatics on
the premises and the sooner the old
gentleman's friends came and put him
under restraint the better it would be
for all concerned. At the earliest con-
venient moment she slipped across to
a neighhor and said that an old gen
tleman who owned a museum in Lon
don was staying with her and didn't
want it to be known And before even
ing the news went round Dunstead
that Mrs. Cobb had got an old show
man staying at her house and that
anybody with two-headed puppy OF
a f1ve-legged calf should try and do a
deal at once, as the old chap was
throwing his money about regardless
Finally Jim Border, in the genial
and communicative mood that even
village ale has been known to induce
explained that he had got it. Under
the common of Dunstead there was
gold; tons of it. And the old cove
from London was keeping his secret