Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1910-12-09
CHAPTER I.

CttAS EN- i.
THE PREFACE OF TIMOTHY
M'SHANUS, JOURNALIST.
It would have been at the Fancy Fair
and Fete at Kensington town a that
my friend DR.. Fabos first met Miss
Fordibras.
"McShanus," said he, IF there's any
one knows a good supper, It's yourseir.
Lead forth to the masquerade. spare
no expense. Your friends are my
friends. 1 would have this a memoir
able night-the last l nay be in Lon
don for many g year.
There were seven Of us who took him
at his word and got into the cab to-
gether. You must know that he mad
paid for q little dinner at the Cold
smith club, and never a man who did
not justice to his handsome hospitality.
IT'S q poor heart that never reJoices;
and Fan Fabos paid for it-as l took
the opportunity to remark to my good
friend K!!Iock, the actor.
SHALL we pay for the cab?" says he.
Would YOU insult the most gener-
Gus heart in Great Britain this nightf'
says L.
"On reflection" says he, 1.-The nan
who does not pay will nave nc trouble
about his change" and with that we
went into the hall. My old comrade,
| Ok y I ", 1lCO $OlAlS 80 -
shooting coat and a red neckcloth that
was not to the taste of the officials at
the box office. Killock himself had
diamonds strewn upon his vest thick
enough to make a pattern OF chrys-
anthemums. My wv cravat would
have been no disgrace to the Emperor
Napoleon. And there we stood, seven
members Of seven honorable profess
sions, like soldiers at the drill, our
eyes upon the refreshment buffet.
"'Tis time for q whisky and soda"
says Barry Henshaw, the famous
dramatist who has written for the
theater.
Shame on ye," GAYS I.
And then he remarked:
eff Fabos was a gentleman he would
| Join the procession and pay for 1t. But
that's h worst Of these shows. You
always lost the man with the money"
I passed the observation by as i'm
pertinent and we went to the buffet.
What they called the fancy fair was
in full swing by this time. Slips of
| beauty dressed as shepherdesses mis-
took me and my friend for their sheep
and would have fleeced us prettily; but
our lofty utterance restrained their
ardor and sent them to the ~rightabout.
Twas a fair. be 1t told, for the sailor
boys at Portsmouth; and when you had
bought a bunch of daisies for 10 shil-
lings Of a maid with blue eyes and
cherry lips, you could waltz with the
same little vixen at 8 shillings a time.
My friend, Barry, I observed, turned
very pale at this suggestion.
"Do you not lift the sprightly toe?"
asked T..
Man." he said, its worse than a
channel passage"
But Fabos is dancing" said l, point
ing to u host in the midst Of the rab-
BILE. See what comes Of the plain liv-
Ing, MY boy. He'll dance until the u
shines. And a pretty 5 shillings' worth
he has on his arm"
Twas odd how we fell to discussing
this same DR.. Fan Fabos upon every
occasion that came to US. Was It be-
cause Of his money. I venture, no.. We
OF the Goldsmith club care for no mans
money.
What I was saying twas that Fan
Babos riches made no more mark upon
us h a lady's parasol upon the back
OF a mule. They said he was a doctor
OF Cambridge whose father had made
q fortune out OF Welsh coal and then
Joined his ancestors. My homage to
his consideration, say T..
He has bequeathed us a noble son,
whose dinners are second to none In
the empire. Again l say, hats off.
But I speak of his son dancing with
the little girl In red at the fancy fair
at Kensington. Be sure that his six
feet n would go bending to 6S inches
and whispering soft things in her ear
at 5 shillings the waltz, as the program
told yet. And he such a silent man
ordinarily. I'd add to It that there's
no true charity In all London which has
not benefited secretly by his generous
aims. But that is known to few : .
. and was never known to me until
j met the daughter OF my friend Os-
croft, the painter; left an orphan as
she was in this same unkind city.
What is II then about Fan Fabos
that turns all eyes upon him I'm what
ever company he may be? Some, for
sure, hope to borrow money of him.
But, mark We, there are many more,
strangers to him, enemies because OF
the favor he enjoys, and these are on
their knees with the rest. What Is II.
then? I'll tell you In a word. IT'S that
great power Of what they call per-
sonal magnetism; a power that we
car give no right name TO, but must
admit wherever we find II. Fan Fabos
had IL beyond any man I have Known.
Now. this IL the very man whom
] saw dancing with a black haired
shepherdess IN a red cloak. When he
surrendered her 10 her father, a stately
old gentleman and I asked him who she
might be, he answered me with the
frankness OF q boy.
Timothy McShanus," says he, She's
the daughter OF General Fordbras.
whose ancestor went to America with
the Marquis de Lafayette!
Your friend Lafayette was known
20 my grandfather" says I. leading him
straight to the buffet, though I do not
remember to have met him. AS for
the labor that we speak OF, / would ask
you why you do II II We have no
tomac for ito To dance or mot To
dance-shall hat be the question? I
was much astonished when he took me
by the arm and made the ~strangest
confession hat ever fell from such a
mans lips.
II danced with her, McShanus." said
he, because she Is wearing the bronze
pearls that were stolen from my fat In
Paris just three years ago"