The Washington herald., 1908-03-10
CHAPTER XIII.
Describes the Man from Nowhere.

Late that same night, IN the small anu
rather wen-furnished dining-room Of a
fiat close to Addison road station, the
beetle-brOwed man known TO some as
John Adams and to others as Jean Adams
was seated in a comfortable armchair
smoking a cigarette.
He was no longer the shabby. half
Misunderstanding stranger who had been
watching outside S-atham's house in Park
lane. but rather dandifed in his neat
dinner jacket, glossy shirt front. and
black tie. Adventurer was written all over
his face. He was man whose whole life
history had been a romance and who
had knocked about in various odd and
out-of-the-way corners Of the world A
cosmopolitan to the backbone. he, like
his friend Leonard Lyle, whom he was
at that moment expecting, hated the
trammels of civilized society. and their
lives had mostly been spent in places
where human life was cheap and where
justice was unknown.
Alone in that small room where the
dinner cloth had been removed and a de-
Canter and glasses had been placed by his
one elderly serving woman, who had now
gone for the night. he was muttering 10
himself as he smoked-murmuring inco-
herent words that sounded much like
threats
II was difficult % recognize IN this we'll
groomed. gentlemanly looking man, with
the diamond in his shirt front and the
sparkling ring upon his finger, the low
looking tramp whose eyes had encounter
ed those OF the man whose ruin he now
sought 10 encompass.
In half a dozen capitals Of the world
he was known as Jean Adams. for he
spoke French perfectly, and passed as a
French subject, native Of Algiers; but
in London. New York, and Montreal he
was known as the wandering and adven-
turous Englishman. John Adams.
Whether he was really English was
doubtful. True. he spoke English with
out the slightest trace of accent. yet
sometimes in his gesture, when unduly
excited, there was unconsciousIy betrayed
his foreign birth.
His French was as perfect as his Eng
lish. He spoke with an accent Of the
South, and none ever dreamed that he
could az the same time speak the pure,
unadulterated Cockney slang.
He had Just glanced at his watch, and
knit his brows when the electric bell
rang. and he rose 10 admit a short. tri-
angular-faced, queer-lCoking little old
man. whose back was bent and whose
body seemed too large for his legs. He
too. was in evening dress, and carried his
Overcoat across his arm
Il began to fear. old chap that you
couldn't come" Adams exclaimed, as he
hung his friends coat in the narrow hall.
You didn't acknowledge my wire"
II couldn't until too late. / was out ."
the other explained, in a tone OF apology.
Well" he asked. with a sigh, as he
stretched himself before he seated him
self in the Droffered chair. what has
happened?"
a lot, my dear fellow. We shall ccme
out on top yet"
BE more explicit What do you mean?"
What L say" was Adams response
I've seen old Statham to-day"
And he's seen yOu-eh?''
''Of course. he has. And he's scared out
Of his senses-thinks he's seen a ghost,
most likely" he laughed in triumph.
But he'll find I'm much more than
ghost before he's much older, the eanting
old blackguard."
Lyle thought for a second.
The sight OF you has forearmed himl
II was rather injudicious just at this mo-
ment, wasn't ftp
mot at all. meant to give him a sur
prise. II I'd have gone UP 10 the house,
rung the bell. and asked to see him.
should have been refused. He sees abso-
lutelv nobody, for there's mystery con-
nected with the house Nobody has ever
been inside"
What" exclaimed the old hunchback-
ed mining engineer. That's interestingi
Tell me more about H. Is il like the
haunted house In Berkeley square about
which people used to talk so much years
ago?"
7 don't think it's ever been alleged to
be haunted" responded Adams Yet
there are several weird and amazing
stories told of It, and Of the grim shad-
ows which overhang il both night and
day"
What stories have you heard?" asked
his companion. taking a cigarette from
the box, for he had suddenly become
much interested.
'sWen. it is said that the place is the
most gorgeously furnished OF any house
IN that select quarter. and that II is
full Of art treasures. old silver, minia-
lures. and antique furniture. for old Stat
ham is q well-knOwn collector and Is
known 20 have purchased many very fine
specimens OF antiques during the past
few years. They say that. having fur
nished the place from kitchen to gar
ret IN the most costly manner possible
he sought out the old love of his earlier
days-a woman who assisted him in the
foundation Of bis fortune-and invited
her 10 inspect the house They went
round il together. and after luncheon
he proposed marriage TO her. To his
chagrin. she declined the honor Of be-
coming the wife of a millionaire"
She was a bit Of Il fool. should sup
pose" remarked the hunchback
They were fond enough Of each other
She was nearly twenty years his junior,
and though they had been separated for
a good many years he was still devoted
10 her. When she refused to marry him,
there was a scene. And at last she was
compelled 10 admit the trUth-she was
the wife of another. a quarter OF an
hour later she left the house IN tears,
and from that moment the beautiful
mansion. with the exception Of two or
three rooms. has been closed He will
allow nobody TO pass upstairs, and the
place remains the same as on that day
when all his hopes Of happiness were
shattered"
But you said there were stories con-
corning the house" Lyle remarked. be-
tween the whiffs Of his cigarette.
$50 there are. Both yesterday and
to-day I've been making inquiries and
have been told many curious things a
statement, for instance, made 10 me IS to
the effect that one night about a month
ago the chauffeur of the great Lanca-
shire cotton spinner living a few doors
away was seated on the car at o'clock
in the morning. ready to take two of his
masters guests down to their home near
Epson, when he noticed Statham's
windows all brilliantly lit
Prom the drawing-room above came
the sounds Of waltz music-a plano ex-
cellently played This struck the man
as curious. well knowing the local be-
lief that the upper portion OF the house