The Caucasian. (Shreveport, La.) 1900-192?, 1907-09-08

eTeal SSCUtt! D VI it'. 10 ''b'i'Nt'hV
! brother of yours? I should think you
had sat for this YOURSELF"
"Mr Shenstone is distantly related to
me-" he replied. I'VE have common
ancestor"
But is this good Of Shenstone?" de-
mandcd. tapping the photograph. II
never saw him"
"You might ask Mr.. Miles," said he.
summoned Miles and showed the
picture.
Fine" he exclaimed. couldn't be
! betterr'
did you ask Shenstone for this!'
said to Sidney. He nodded.
Ever meet him before" Sidney
shook his head
"Was he surprised Mt the sight OF
your
"He certainly was and amused too
The resemblance is so close as to- he
really ridiculous. considering the diff
| ference I'm our circumstances.
paid Sidney the additional $40. and
though | subsequently learned that
he himself had posed for the picture
l never regretted the bargain.
About two months later a somewhat
| mysterious stranger called upon me
to inquire for Sidney Colberts adj
dress. Suspecting this man to be Il
collector, l declined to give the de-
sired information. On the following
day a lawyer from the Wall street
| district came with the same request.
| He assured me that he was acting In
my friends interest. told him that
| Sidney was Just recovering from an
| illness and was in miserable circum-
! stances and that l would make ii
warm for any one who annoyed him.
Then l gave the address.
was not altogether easy in my
| mind however. and consequently |
called at Silney's lodgings one even
| ing in the latter part of that week. He
was not at home. and nobody had
seen him for two days. Much dis
turbed, went to see Miss Dean in
the studio building, where she dwelt
in girl bachelor fashion.
Miss Dean was quaking with nerv-
BUSINESS, though she tried to conceal it.
was sure that she had been pacing
the floor, which was Uttered with all
the evening newspapers. She began
by telling me that she did not know
where Sidney was. but when / smiled
upon her sadly she abandoned that de-
ception and admitted that she did
know, but was pledged not to tell.
HE has been SO ill., she cried,
clinching her hands distractedly. HE
ought to he il, the country. where he
could be quiet and have pure air to
breathe
us he in any sort of trouble?' i
asked and she said no, except that he
was very weak from illness and
needed rest
"1s he at work.
Eyes"
"Then he will soon have some mon
ey and can 60 out of town. said l.
Il "Twenty dollars week. she re-
sponded with whitening scorn.
That was all learned about Sidney,
but Miss Dean consented to speak more
freely of herself. ! thought 1t my duty
to inquire. because for all knew she
| might be penniless. 1t appeared. how
ever. that she was fairly good man
ager. and. though the allowance upon
which she lived was barely sufficient
for her support she had never gone in
debt. Indeed she had for time pre-
served some small savings, but these
she had spent for Sidney during his
In diI IL f1iu Of
course. 1t would never occur to him
that little expenses for sick mans
delicate provender could have any con-
siderable total.
I saw Sylvia quite frequently after
that. but did not see Sidney nor could
get track Of him. though | made va
rious endeavors. a hint from Sylvia
gave me the impression that the mystic
rious work in which Sidney was ell
gagged might not be viewed with ap-
prevail by stern mOralist. aud this led
me to believe that lie was employed by
Shenstone. II was possible. however,
that he might be serving Shenstone's
enemies. Could 1t be possible that his
resemblance to the SPECTATOR was be-
Ing uScu Ill SpIllc WIN SCH1lIc vi per
sonation? Sidney would never consent
to such dishonesty, but in the hands of
the shrewd and reckless men who were
fighting Shenstone's pool my friend
would be mere child. 1t would be no
trouble at all for them to make Sidney
believe that black was white.
Sylvia was as careless as most wom-
ell are of the ethics of business. Her
sole anxiety in this matter was for Sid
ney's health. made out that she had
either very meager reports Of him or
none at all.
II should not be surprised any day
to hear that he was dead" said she to
me. with black foreboding written on
her face.
think it was rot twenty-fOur hours
afterward that was going through the
regular daily report from one of the
city news bureaus and came upon this
paragraph typewriter upon the thin.
dirty yellow paper that they use:
"Sidney Colbert, writer. was taken
IN st N0ruaret'S hOSDital late last