The Monmouth inquirer., 1906-10-11
SOME RELICS FROM
THE NILE
BY c. b. LEWIS

s. %
Any one of the reading public of Lon
don could have told you that the Hon.
Charles Bingham was man seventy
years old; that he had wealth; that he
was democratic and rode around on top
of omnibuses; that he had fads; that
the greatest of his fads was picking up
relics and presenting them to museums
Of natural history throughout the king
dom. There was seldom week that
his name was not in the papers, and en-
ter any museum you might and you
would be sure to run across cases label
ed with his name and filled with his
gifts.
At his own expense the Hon. Bing-
ham had sent expeditions to the four
quarters of the globe, and the only
reason he had not purchased some of
the largest pyramids of Egypt was be-
cause of the difficulties of transporta-
ton. If the chief of an African tribe
had warclubs for sale the Hon. Bing-
ham bought them; If child in the east
end of London found a petrified bone 1t
could be turned into cash in twenty
four hours.
Hundreds of persons had taken the
Hon. Charles Bingham for an easy
mark and sought to work him. Man,
woman or child could find access to his
house at any hour Of the day, but as
for taking the old man in with imita-
tons, that was different. He had made
q few mistakes early in his career, as
might have been expected, but after he
had passed fifty his decisions settled
the question with all museums in Eu-
rope. There was weak spot In the
armor, however, and it was curious
that no one found 1t out for many
years.
One day there came to London an
American who had been exploring the
Nile for years. He had letters from
American and British consuIs abroad
He even had one from the secretary of
the khedive himself. He had gathered
many wonderful things during his stay
on the banks of the historic stream.
He must have known Of the Hon.
Charles Bingham, but he did not call
upon the man or open correspondence.
He dropped in at club or two, said
very little, charmed everybody with his
modesty and refused all interviews
with reporters. 1t was not until the
Hon. Charles had sent one messenger
and then written letter over his own
signature that Explorer Blake grudg-
ingly consented to a meeting. At that
meeting he named few of his souve-
Mrs, but only few. Nothing whatever
was for sale. The whole bag was to go
to the New York. Museum of Natural
History.
The attitude of Explorer Blake was
churlish, and yet after few days he
softened enough to invite the Hon
Charles to a private inspection OF his
treasures. This invitation would not
have been extended to any other man
in the world He appointed the hour
when he would call with carriage, and
he was there to the minute 1t was the
general idea that his stock of finds was
In warehouse, and he was supposed
to be stopping at hotel, but no one
was certain of these things.
The Hon. Charles didn't care where
he was taken, so long as the relics OF
the Nile were at the other end of the
journey. He paid no attention to the
streets they passed through and very
little to the house at which they finally
arrived. He was ushered to the top
story, talking as he went, landed in
room about twelve feet square lighted
by skylight, and when he looked about
for the stock in trade he failed to find
it The only furniture in the room
was two old chairs Explorer Blake
took one and lighted a cigar, and the
Hon. Charles took the other and Won
dered what was coming next. He soon
ascertained
my dear sir, l shall be very sorry to
put you to any trouble" began the ex
plorer, but the fact is l am hard up
and must raise $4,000 That is 5000
In your money. don't want to turn
burglar or murderer. I want to be
gentle and nice about it."
How long have you been planning
this thing?" asked the Hon. Charles as
he looked around the empty room and
"tumbled" to the fact that he had been
taken In
"All Of six months, and it has cost
me considerable hard cash"
"And your figure is $4,000, Is it2"