Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1910-08-21

No, my Lord. I'm under contract to
remain in Bristol FIVE days"
Very well. Stop in Bristol, and be
BANKED to youi Is there any reason why
you should not take me to pick up my sons
belongings? Then Dale and | can 90 to
Hereford by train. Viscount Medenham is
deuced particular about his linen. If | stick
to his shirts, shall meet him sometime to-
day, | suppose.
Simmonds sought Dale's counsel by an
undertook; but that hapless sportsman
could offer no suggestion, SO the other made
the best of bad business. I'll do that, of
course, my Lord he said with alacrity.
Just grab his Lordship's dressing case from
that porter and shove it inside, he went on,
eying Dale fiercely, well knowing that the
whole collapse arose from a cause but too
easily traced.
mo. no." broke in the Earl, whose mag
isterial experiences had taught him the wis
dom of keeping witnesses apart, Dale
comes with me. | want to sift this business
thoroughly. Put the case in front. We can
pile the other luggage on top of it. Now,
Dale, jump inside. Your friend knows where
to go, | expect"
THUS did two bizarre elements intrude
themselves into the natural order of
things on that fine morning in the West of
England. The very shortness of the road
between Bristol and Bath apparently offered
an insuperable obstacle to the passage of
Simmonds' car along it, and some unknown
chap" whose "nevvy" had married the
sister of Beckhampton housemaid, became
the predominating factor in situation that
affected the fortunes of several notable
people.
For his part, Lord Fairholme gave no
further thought to Marigny. 1t did not
even occur to him that it might be advisable
to call again at the College Green Hotel,
since Medenham had slept elsewhere, and
Hereford was now the goal. Certainly the
Frenchman's good fairy might have pushed
her good offices to excess by permitting him
to see, careering about Bristol with pair of
chauffeurs, the man whom he believed to be
then on the way to London. But fairies
are Enthusiastically creatures, likely to be off
with hop, skip, and jump, and in any case
Marigny was writing explicit instructions to
Devar, though he would have been far more
proftably employed in lounging outside the
hotel.
So everybody was dissatisfied, more or
less, the quaking Dale more, perhaps, than
any; and the person who had absolutely no
shadow of care on his soul was Medenham
himself, at that moment guiding the Mercury
along the splendid highway that connects
leisurely too, lest Cynthia should miss one
heeting glimpse of the everchanging beau
ties of the Severn estuary.
DURING one of the adagio movements of
- the engine, Cynthia who had been con-
sulting guidebook, leaned forward with a
smile on her face.
What is a lamprey2" she asked.
"A special variety of eel which has habit
of sticking to stones by its mouth" said
Medenham. Then he added after pause,
Henry /. was sixty-seven years old when
he died; SO the dish of lampreys was per-
haps blamed unjustly."
you have good memory" she retorted.
"Oh, is that in your book, Miss Van
renen1 Well, here is another fact about
Gloucester. Alfred the Great held a witen-
agemot there in 800. Do you know what a
witenagemot ISL"
Yes" she said, :" a smoking concert"
Mrs. Devar invariably resented these bits
of byplay, since she could no more extract
their meaning than if they were uttered in
Choctaw. Some very good people live in
Worcestershire" she put in. There are
the" She began to give extracts from
Burkes LANDED Gentry" whereupon the
speedometer index sprang TO forty-ive, and
a noble fifteenth century tower soon lifted
its stone lacework above the trees and
spires of the ancient city.