The sun. (Jacksonville, Fla.) 1905-1908, 1906-01-13
CHAPTER I.

n"eie was mysterious aitalr last night sig
"Oh!" I exclaimed. Anything that interests
us?
eyes, signore," replied the tall thin Italian Con.
sular clerk, speaking with strong accent "An
English steam yacht ran aground on the NIeloria
ABOUT ten miles out, and was discovered by fishing
boat who brought the to harbor. The Admiral
sent out two tOrpedoboats which managed after q
lot OF difficulty to bring in the yacht safely, but the
captain OF the Port has suspicion that the crew
were trying to make away with the vessel"
'To lose her, you mean?"
The faithful Francesca, whose English had mostly
been acquired from sea-faring men, and was not the
choicest vocabulary nodded, and, true Tuscan that
he was, placed his finger upon his closed lips, ndi.
catve of silence.
Sounds curious" l remarked "Since the Con.
sui went away on leave things seem to have been
humming-two stabbing ARRAYS, eight drunken sea.
men locked up, a mutiny a tramp steamer, and
now yacht being cast away--a fairly decent list
And yet some stay!at-home people complain that
British Consuls are only paid to be ornamental
They should spend week here, at [eghOrn and
they'd soon alter their opinion"
Yes, they would signore,' responded the thin.
faced Old fellow with grin, he twisted his fierce
gray mustache. Francesca Carducci a well.
known character in Leghom; interpreter to the Con
sulate, and keeper of sailors home, an honest, good
hearted easygong fellow, who for twenty years had
occupied the same position under half dozen differ
ent COnsus. At that moment however, there came
from the outer Office lOng-drawn moan.
"HullOa, what's that" | inquired, startled
"Only a mad stoker off the Oleander signorc
The captain has brought him for you to see. They
want to send him back to his friends at Newcastle"
ooh! case of madness!" exclaimed "Better
get DR.. Ridolf to see him. Pm not expert on
mental Diseases"
My old friend Frank Hutchinson, His Britannia
Majesty's Vice Consul at the port of Ieghorn,
away on leave in England, his duties being relegated
to young Bertam Cayendish, the proConsul. The
latter however, had gone down with a bad touch
of malaria which he had picked up in the deadly
Maremma. and l. as the only other Englishman in
LeghOrn, had been asked by the Consul General in
Florence to act as pro'Consul until Hutcheson's
return.
1t was mid,July, and the weather was blazing in
the glarng sun-blanched Mediterranean town. If
you know Leghorn you probably know the Consulate,
with its black and yellow escutcheOn outside, large,
handsome suite of huge airy Offices facing the cathe
dral, and overlooking the prnc pal piazza, which is
as big as Trafalgar Square, and much more pictur-
esque The legend painted upon the door, "0fice
hours, 10 to g." and the green persennes closed
against the scorchng sup give the idea of easy
appointment but such il certainly not the case, for
COnsuls life at port of discharge must necessarily
be very active one, and his duties never'ending.
Carducci had left me to the correspondence for
half an hour or so, and ! confess was in no mood
to write replies in that sitting heat, therefore sat
at the COnsus big table smoking a cigarette and
stretched lazily in my friends chair, resolving to
escape to the cool of England he returned
Ill Cne IOlOWlnS week. lCay ~ all very wei lot nine
months in the year. hut Ieghorn is no place for the
Englishman in mid-Juy. My thoughts were wan
dering toward the English lakes, and bit OF grouse
shooting with my uncle up in Scotland, when the
faithful Francesca re-entered, saying:
GIVE sent the captain and his mailman away till
this afternoon, signore. But there Is an English
signore waiting to see YOU"
''Who is he?
81 don't know him. He will give name, but
wants to the Signor Console"
show i'm in | n NJ
later tall smartly dressed, midde.aged
Englishman, in navy serge yachting suit entered,
and bowling inquired whether | was the British
Consul
When he had seated himself explained my po-
sitiOn, whereupon he said:
81 couldn't make much out of your clerk. He
speaks so brOkenly and | don't know a word of
Italian. My name is Philip Horribly" and he handed
me card bearing the with the addresses
'WoOdcroft Park, Somerset Brooks" Then
he added: 81 am cruising board my yacht, the
Lola, and last night we unfortunately went aground
m the Meloria | have captain whom / en-
gagged few months ago, and he seems an arrant