The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1907-10-20

Ny name is Seymour Wilbraham
Wentworth. / am brother-in-law and
secretary to Sir Charles Vandrift. the
South African millionaire and famous
financier. Many years ago, when
Charlie Vandrift was a small lawyer in
Cape Town, l had the (Qualified) good
fortune to marry his sister. Much Ia
ter. when the Vandrift estate and farm,
near Kimberley. developed by degrees
into the Cloetedorp Golcondas. Limit
ed, my brother-in-law offered me the
not unremunerative post of secretary;
in which capacity I have ever since
been his constant and attached COM
panion.
He is not man whom any common
sharper can take in. is Charles Van
drift. Middle height, square build,
firm mouth, keen eyes-the very pic
ture of a sharp and successful business
genius. l have only known one rogue
impose upon Sir Charles. and that one
rogue, as the cOmmissary of police at
Nice remarked. would doubtless have
imposed upon a syndicate of Vidocq,
Robert Houdin and Cagliostro-
We had~run across to the Riviera for
q few weeks in the season. Our OBJ
feet being strictly rest and recreation
from the arduous duties of financial
combination, we did not think il neces-
sary to take our wives out with US. In
deed Lady Vandrift is absolutely
welded to the joys of London. and does
not appreciate the rural delights of the
Mediterranean littoral. But Sir
Charles and !, though immersed in af-
fairs when at home, both thoroughly
enjoy the complete change from the
city to the charming vegetation and
pellucid air on the terrace at Monte
Carlo. We are so fond of scenery
That delicious view over the rocks of
Manoca. with the Maritime ALPS in the
rear, and the blue sea in front, not to
mention the imposing Casino in the
foreground, appeals to me as one of
the most beautiful prospects in all Eu-
rope. Sir Charles has a sentimental
attachment for the place. He finds ii
restores and freshens him, after the
turmoil of London, to win a few hun
dreds at roulette in the course of an
afternoon among the palms and cac-
fuses and pure brezes of Monte Carlo.
The country, say /. for a faded in
tellecti However, we never. on any ac-
count. actually stop in the Principally
itself. Sir Charles thinks Monte Carlo
IS not a sound address for a financier's
letters He prefers comfortable hotel
on the Promenade des Anglais at Nice.
where he RECEIVERS health and renovates
his nervous system by taking daily ex-
cursions along the coast to the Ca
sino.
This particular season we were snugly
ensconced at the Hotel des Anglais"
We had capital quarters on the first
floor-salon. study and bedrooms-and
found on the spot most agreeable
cosmopolitan society. All Nice, just
then, was ringing with talk about a
curious impostor. known to his follow
ers as the Great Mexican Seer, and
supposed TO be gifted with second
sight, as we'll as with endless other SUI
pernatural powers Now. ii is a pc
culiarity of my able brotherin-law's
that, when he meets with a quack. he
burns to expose him: he is so. keen a
man of business himself that il gives
him, so TO speak. a disinterested pleas
ure to unmask and detect imposture
in others Many ladies at the hotel,
some of whom had met and conversed
with the Mexican Seer, were constantly
telling us strange stories of his doings.
He had disclosed to one the present
whereabouts of a runaway husband;
he had pointed out TO another the
numbers that would win at roulette
next evening; he had shown third
the image on screen of the man she
had for years adored without his
knowledge. OF course Sir Charles
didn't believe a word of il: but his Gu
riosity was reused; he wished TO see
and judge for himself of the wonderful
thought reader.