The Minneapolis journal., 1905-05-06
CHAPTER I.
The Man With the Mandate.

+ The Man With the Mandate.
At 6 o'clock on May evening, at an
Isptown corner of Broadway, in New
Work City, the bowels of the earth
opened and disgorged crowd of weary
faced men and women who scattered in |
all directions. They were the employees
of huge "drygoods store" leaving
work for the day. 1t was a stringent
rule OF the firm that everyone drawing !
wages, from the smart managers of de-
partments and we'll dressed salesladies
down to the counting-house drudges and
check-boys, should descend into the
! basement and there file past the time
keeper and a private detective before
passing up narrow staircase, and so
out by sort of stage-door into the side
street. IT.
The great plate-glass portals on the
main thorofare were not for the work
ing bees of this hive of industry-only
for the gay butterflies of fashion, by
whom they lived.
The last to come out was young man
dressed in a threadbare suit of tweeds,
that somehow hardly seemed American,
either in cut or fabric. There might
have been far-away remlniscence OF
Perthshire moors clinging to them, or
earlier memories Of famous creator In
Bond street; but suggestion of the
reach-me-down shops from which New
York clerks clothe themselves there was
none. A flush Of anger was fading on
their owners face as he came out into
the sunlight, leaving a mild annoyance
that presently gave place to grim.
The firms detective, rendered suspi-
cious by e bulging pocket, had just
searched him and had failed to apollo
gize on finding the protuberance to be
nothing but bundle Of uneatable sand
wiches that were being taken home to
confound the landlady Of the young
man s cheap boarding house.
The indignity did not rankle long.
It was only detail in the topsy-turvy-
dom that in one short year had changed
subaltern in crack English cavalry
regiment into an ill-paid drudge in a
drygoods store. Twelve months before
Charles Hanbury had been playing polo
and an? riding gymkhana races in Upper In. In
means had brought swift ruin in it's
train. Tired of helping him out Of
scrapes, his connections had refused fur
ther assistance; and. leaving the army,
he had come out to ''the ,States' with
plains. Still misfortune had dogged his
steps. A fall down a hatchway on the
voyage out had hopelessly famed him,
and he had been compelled to ward off
starvation by obtaining his present in
glorious berth.
Ills WOrh SoluuluS VI AS
ures entered from the sales tickets
was quite irresponsible, and he was paid
accordingly. He drew eight dollars a
week, of which five went to his board
ing-house keeper.
Limping up - street, he turned into
the Bowery, intending to take his usua
homeward route across the big bridge
into Brooklyn. Unable to afford g
streetcar, he walked to and from the
store daily and it was one Of his few
amusements to study the cosmopolitan
life of the teeming and sordid thorofart
thru which his way lay. :.
He was still chuckling over the dis
comfture Of the tame detective, wher
his eye was caught by label in a cheaI
bookstore. "Three dollars the pair,
ran the legend, which drew a rueful slgl
from one who had paid-and alas!. still
owed-as many gulneas for pair OF
dancing pumps. :,
"I don't suppose they'd sell me hall
a pair, for that's all it runs to- he
muttered, turning regretfully. away from
the vamped-up frauds, and in so doins
Jerking the elbow of a passerb by. IN
victim of his sudden move-a STOUT, tal
man in a light frock coat and Panam;
straw hat-stopped and seemed inclined
to resent the aWkwardness.
sI really beg your pardon,' the cul
Drit said with easy politeness. - wa
t. SO absorbed in my reflections that for
got for the moment that the BoWery re
quires cautious steering"
HYou are an Englishman7' returne
. the other, with milder countenance
i $50 am l. No need to apologize: AS
fellow countryman in foreign parts, pei
nit me to offer you some liquid refresf
ment. In other words, come into tha
dive do3r and have drink ~,
Hamburg allowed himself to be PEI
suaded. He would lose his supper. 9
the boarding house by the irregularit,
= but dissipation seldom came his wa
nowadays, and the prospect OF Whlsk
at someone's else expense was temptln
The stout Englishman somehow. COZ
veyed the impression that he would NJ
expect to be treated in return by b
new acquaintance, who was prepared
. take advantage of his liberality. To {
him j4sticte HadbarE dbe y srfnons en
ings, but to a homesick instinct arouse
by the Cockney accent of the vulg'
The garish underground saloon in
which they descended was almost empt
at that early hour OF the evenln
one Of the circular tables, the host su
iected his guest to q scrutiny so scare
- Yno that its object broke into 1aug
7sYou are sizing me up pret
closely,' he remarked, with touch
annoyance.
"Exactly; but not SC, as to give
fense, / hope,' was the reply.
should like to know your name, If y
have no objection"
Hanbury-Charles Hanbury.. p
haps you will make the introductl
= mutualq" said the younger man, a
peased by the others eoncllatory ma
sCall me Jevons," the stout man
swered. 'sNow, look here, Mr.. He
bury; it's not my game to begin o Q
acuuaintance unde-, false pretences: L
fact is. I contrived that you shor
iostle me just now. and so give me
Chance to speak. I spotted you as
Englishman and a gentleman TO
night ago. and I've noticed you ,ps
along the Bowery every day since.
in need Of an Englishman who IS a
a gentleman to take on job with
fortune-a moderate fortune-at I
back of it. .-
"You can hardly have mistaken
for an INVESTOR said Hanbury, will
ouizzical glance at his threadbare sea
and dilapidated boots. "Bel1eve me
am a very broken-down gentleman;
still, my gentility survives, suppo
/ and T am willing to treat it as &C
mercial asset, if that IS what J