The Raymer enterprise., 1911-04-06


London office, con.
tanned no more curious
!: g ]: ]: i: !: y: y: +: =: !: ;
DN and interesting entries
than those relating to
M0M the celebrated Ashley
W1Nn case. BY virtue Of the
nkDN story teller's omnis.
Lf cience We are enabled
to transcribe these
Wl notes. weaving there
WIN from the fol low ling
- terse narrative concern
ing one OF the cleyerest attempted i'm
postures OF recent times. Perhapsitwill
help the clarity OF the story II we allow
Callister to be his own narrator. sim
ply promising that while as gen
eral rule he seldom went out "on a
case" himself, yet In matters OF mo-
ment or OF special emergency he oc-
casionally did SO. and usually with
signal success-for he was one OF the
cleverest secret agents OF Bulliyants
Limited-the leading investigating
agency OF It's day and generation. So.
without further preamble. Darrell Cal
lister tells the story.
On the 18th OF June. 1898. was sit
ting In our King William street Office.
II was near closing time anyway, and
business being dull, was about to
close my desk and betake myself to
Croydon, wife. and babies. with per.
haps a tour OF the links before din
ner. when the postman on his final
round for the day dropped letter in
the box.
The envelope was large. square,
and OF heavy texture: the flap bore
coronet. and It was addressed to me
personally. care OF Bullivants. With.
IN was double sheet of coroneted
paper on which In an exceedingly
clerkly hand were the following lines:
Darrell Calllster. Esq.-My Dear Sir:
Could you do me the favor to call at II
kensinEton Gardens this afternoon about
four. according to your convcnienco2 I
u
urgent and distressing family affair.
Yours obedienty.
ASHLEY.
recognized the signature as that
OF one OF the best-known names In
the English peerage-Viscount Ashley,
Baron Scarlet, and | don't know how
many more titles, belonging to one
OF the halfdozen oldest earldoms.
Some inkling OF the trouble also
had come to me through the Morning
Post though SO far In the most
guarded manner. since the impending
scandal in high life was not yet com.
mon property.
Briefly | ran over the known facts
to ireshcn my memory before starting
to keep the appointment with his
lorashlp. Some six years earlier the
title had come to him as the nephew
Of the tenth Viscount Ashley, who
had presumably died without Issue
! use the term presumably" for want
of better. The old nobleman once
had a son, a ne'er-dO-well. who had
disappeared 20 years before and
was long since given up as dead by
all save his mother the dowager Wis
countess now an old woman OF seven
ty and over
But an old womans fond fancies
could not be allowed to stand In the
way Of the heIr-atlaw. and when
Lionel Ashley failed to appear. though
his fathers demise was widely her.
aided. the law assumed that he was
dead. the nephew, Gerald. succeeded
was confirmed In the title and estates
by the house OF lords. since enjoying
undisturbed possession.
However, about six months before
came into the case on tha, Jun, after.
noon, a claimant" had appeared in
the person Of fellow who asserted
that he was Lionel Ashley and the
rightful heir--as OF course he was
II his proofs were good But al
though the claimant bore n strong
physical resemblance to the missing
heir and was In fact acknowledged as
her longmlssIng son by the dowager
and sundry old family retainers: de,
spite the fact that he showed n re.
markable knowledge OF detail con.
cernlng the family history and his
own boyhood: and Notwithstanding
that he told most specIous tale as
to his 20year wanderings, there were
enough suspicious circumstances abou,
the man and his tale to cause consld
erabie doubt among those most inter
estcd and who were unblinded BY
maternal love and unbiased through
fanciei old associations. Amons
these, naturally. was the present Wis
count, my correspondent, although
Judged him too fair,mInded and honor.
able 10 dispute Just claim properly
presented.
Thesc. then. were the scanty facts
In my possession when | closed my
desk. called n hanson. and directed
the cabby to drive to Kensington Gar.
dens, was too old a hand to let my
mind be biased by mere newspaper
talk, so was prepared to NEE, Wis.
count Ashley on neutral ground, u, as
] supposed. his family affair" con.
cerned the claimant"
Nor was mistaken. was scarce.
r ly seated when my client plunged into
the matter nearest his heart-for OF
course the case meant to him every.