The Chickasha daily express. (Chickasha, Indian Territory [Okla.]) 1899-current, 1905-01-06

affairs tnal 4 may
we'll begin BY spar
ing few lines to those Of another man.
man on whose grave the grass has
been growing for many long year
His name was Julian Lorraine HIS
home. from the day when | frst knew
him to the day Of his death, was Hers'ai
Abbey. a fine old house in that part ol
wooded Somersetshire where railways
have not yet come.
Although Mr.. Lorraine was man OF
wealth. and, moreover, by education
and. I believe, family, fully entitled 70
take a high social position, Herstal
Abbey was not his ancestral home he
had acquired it by simple right OF pur-
chase, having bought out an Ola I'M
provident, but popular county family
bought it out SO completely that II he
did not literally step into its shoes he
sat in its very chairs and used it's very
tables.
such wholesale buying up OF one OF
their own class tg al unknown man
always annoys, perhaps fTightehs'
county people, and Julian Lora.nes
neighbors for some time looked at MIN
askanee He took none Of these steps
by which newcomer may occasional
III gain access to the magic county cir
Gle. He brought no introductions. lie
gave no large subscription to the hunt
indeed. there was not much hunting
in that part. He did not, in a covert
way. lei his willingness TO give grand
entertainments be known He simply
completed the purchase Of Hcrsial
Abbey and its contentsi took up MS
abode in the old house, and troubled
nothing about his neighboF, which no
doubt ANNOYED them all the more.
Little Julian Lorraine cared for this
The truth is he was one of the most
unsociable men alive, and his cynicism,
if distributed through the county,
would have made Somersetshire re-
gion in which life would have been un-
bearabIe. He was-I pen the words re-
luctantly an utter disbelieyer " hui
manity. Perhaps the life which he had
hitherto led brought him to this state
of mind
For in very short time his neighbors
found out that be was by no means the
unknown man they thought him. Pso-
ple who knew London life had much to
say about this Julian Lorraine 1t was
soon made clear to the countryside that
the new mans social claims to the right
hand Of fellowship were indisputable;
but other things were also made clear.
Lorraine had led terrible life-the
very fastest Of the fast. The wonder
was that he was still wealthy. AT one
time 1t was thought he had run through
everything. for he had disappeared, and
no ono saw anything Of him for tive
years. But it turned out he had only
been leading a rowing lie in lar coun-
tries. Repenting, let us hope No;
JULIAN Lorraine was not nice man.
Buy. nice or not, no one had any
longer the wish to keep Mr.. Lorraine at
arm s-length. Had he cared for it, ne
might have enjoyed mixing with the
pick Of the county society. But he
treated civility almost as he treated
coldness, with complete indifference;
and it soon became understood that the
owner of Herstal Abbey was a man
who no longer -cared to mix with his
kind.
1t was. of course, incomprehensible
that any one should buy fine property
and settle down to the life of reclusei
the more so as the man was still in the
prime of life, handsome and wealthy.
But Julian Lorraine was an incompre-
hensible man. |, for one, have never
been able to determine his true charac-
ter. Perhaps have Stunned investi-
eating it. Perhaps, had tried,
should have been unable to gather
trustworthy information as to his true
nature. from the fact that tales afoat
concerning his early life would reach
me last Of all
When he bought Herstal Abbey he
was a widower with one son, a boy Q:
seven. This boy he petted and neg
lected alternately There were days
when the child was with him from
morn to eve: there we're weeks in which
he never saw him from Sunday morn
ing to Saturday night; there were
months during which Mr.. Lorraine went
wandering of, Heaven Knows where
leaving the child to the care Of serv-
ants.
Whether at home or abroad, he kept
M the establishment in lavish, was e
ful manner. He threw his money about
in a cynical way. as one who cared moi
how II went. He expected mis- servants
would rob him-no doubt they did
This he considered but human nature
and troubled nothing about 1t; but woe
to the man or woman who In the slight
est degree neglected anything which his
comfort or whim demanded His de-
pendents soon understood their mas
ter's peculiarities. and BY the exercise
Of due care managed to keep theii
places for years and years, and nc
doubt grew rich upon the money h'
wasted.
AS will soon be seen, I have related