The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-08-01

pompous memorial to a Mrs. Douglas Pelham felt that some strange and dire full mystery surrounded his friend, but found no clue to it; and even his youth did not prevent him from having some sleepless nights of anxiety on Glanville's account.
 Some time after Pelham was in Paris, whither he had been advised by Lady Frances to repair in order to improve his dancing and his French accent under the best teachers and his ton" by a platonic liasion with some lady of distinction Lady Frances recommended a duchess at the very least. Pelham carefully avoided his countrymen in Paris, that being the proper thing to do. But one night in a gambling place he ran across an English man whom he knew, a MT. Tom Thorn ton a vulgar sort of fellow, apparently good natured, but evidently depraved. Pel- ham had one night gone into a cheap cabaret where his insular arrogance had brought on a duel with Frenchman, in which he had disabled his antagonist with a shot in the shoulder. Thornton had been in the cabaret at the time of the row, and being the only Englishman there except Pelham had volunteered and been &C., cepted as the latter's second in the duel. So Pelham, being as he described himself, the perfect gentleman, felt 1t his duty to be a trihe less .insolent to the man when they met than he otherwise would have been.
 Thornton was seated at the gaming table, playing with an easynonchaiance, and near him sat another Englishman. a man of distin guished features. dark and swarthy. but with a somewhat sin ister expression about the mouth and eyes which injured what would other wise have been a high-bred and attrac- tive face. He was playing with nerv- l ous-anxiety and evidently losing. Pel- ham turned around and noticed stand ing opposite to the nervous player man clad in shabby great-coat. his | hat slouched down over his eyes. who regarded the companion of Thornton | with a stern, ferocious expression. Pelham recognized him as man | whom he had seen with Thornton on the street that morning. and in spite | of the fact that he wore black wig. that his whole makeup was one of dis guise, there was something familiar in | his appearance which sent a thrill of | recollection to the heart of the young | dandy who, at that time, was so filled | with surprise that he doubted the &C., curateness of his own conviction as to | the identity of the person before him. | The next day he sought an interview | with Thornton with the idea of pump ing, him regarding his two friends. As | to the dark man, the nervous player, | it was a MT. John Tyrrell-a man of ! family, but sadly given to play-in 1 fact, he had about ruined himself at it. As to the other, MT. Thornton knew
 so many people in Parts-he really
 could not recollect. Because" said
 Pelham, "I thought I recognized him. | Could it have been-?' Let me see, "
 replied Thornton, evidently i'll at ease
 "Yes. his name Is War-War-I scarcely
 know him; yes, warburton-that is his
 name." "Ah," said Pelham. T was
 quite mistaken. l, is not at all the
 man I thought" Thornton evidently
 felt relieved, and Pelham took his de-
 parture ref1ecting that the best way
 to make a dupe of man is to let hin
 think that he Is making a dupe of you
 For weeks after that Pelham divided
 his time between the pleasures of the
 very best Parisian society and the
 stalking of Thornton and his two mys.
 terious friends in the gambling hells | of the French capital.
 One night Tyrrell and Warburton loft (