Alexandria gazette. [volume] (Alexandria, D.C.) 1834-1974, 1911-12-09
CHAPTER |.

one of those days whose sole function
seems to reside in rendering US irri'
tably conscious of our too-close cas-
ings Of too-solid flesh; whose humid
and inert atmosphere, sodden with
tend moisture, clings palpably to the
body, causing men to feel as If they
crawled, half-suffocated, al the bot
tom OF a sea of rarefed water.
The hour may have been eight; II
NAV have been not quite that, Dut II
was almost dark. Tho windows were
oblongs, black as night in the yeilo"
walls OF O'Rourke's bedchamber in the
Hotel dCrient, Monte Carlo.
I have the honor to make known
to YOU the O'Rourle Of Castle
O'Rourke in the county Of Galway
Ireland: otherwise and more widely
known as Colonel Terence O'Rourkc;
a chevalier of the Legion OF Honor CT
France: sometime an officer in the
Foreign Legion in Algiers; a wander
or spendthritt, free-lance, cosmopol'
ite-a gentlemau.adventure he's been
termed.
He was dressing for dinner Inc
glare of half a dozen electric bulbs dis
covered him all but ready for PUBIC
appearance-not,h however, quite ready.
In his shirt sleeves he faced chevas'
glass. pluckily (if with the haSgard
eve CT exasperation) endeaVorinS to
outmaneuvcr demon Of inanimate
perversity which had entered into his
dress tic, melting it to refuse TO as
sumo, for all his coaXing and his STRAIT
agens, that effect Of nonchalant per-
lection so much sought after, SO sell
dom achieved.
Patiently was the thing possessed
by devil: ORourlEe made no manner
OF doubt Of that Though for minutes
at time he fuInb,ed. fidsetcd, fumed,
it was without avail.
His room itself was in state OF
considerable Notwithstanding due
mainly 10 ORourke's characteristic ef-
forts to ind just what ne might hap
pen to desire at any given time with
ont troubling to think where it ought
properly TO be-
Something OF this confusion, mir
rored in the glass, was likewise re-
Elected in O'Rourkc's eyes, what time
he paused for breath and profanity.
Faith. Ills worse THAI q davis nest,
tie place" he admitted, scandaiized..
"E"3w ever did I--onc lone man-do
u that, viii Sc be telling ne?" He
,nS out two helpless baGf!cd hands,
nd let them fall. After meditative
i-2usc he added: Damn that Asa
ltan,'-with reference TO his latest
and least competent valet, who had
uut recently been discharged with
flea in his car and q months unearn-
Cd wage in his pocl.ct For knowing
nc ways" sighed ORcurkc, there
was never anyone the like o. Danny"
For as many as three lirclong days
this nan had been reduced tc tho ne
cessity Of dressing himself with his
own fair hands-ard that at least
thrice daily. who did nothing by
halves. And. somehow, mysterIousiT,
his discarded garments had Tor tho
most part remained where he had
thrown them. despite The earnest CT.
forts Of The femme de chambre to re-
store something resembling order from
this man.made chaos. Fer servants
al liked well the O'Rourke, ilNrrori-
dent soul that he was, freehanded
to 4 fault.
You are invited to picture TO your"
self O'Rourle as invariably he was
in one OF his net intrcquent but ever
transient phases Of afiluonce: that is,
q very magnificent iigCro indeed.
Standing bit over six feet. deep Of
chest and lean Of flank. with his long,
straight legs he looked what ne had
been meant to be. q man of arms and
action. His head was shape!E. its
dark hair curling tire least II the
world; and, incredibly stained, trans
parent brown. his features We're lean,
eager and rendered very attractive
by quick boyish eyes il whose warm
blue-gray depths humor twinklcd
more often than not, though those
same eyes were not seldom thought
full, . trace wistful, perhaps, with
the look Of one who recalls dear mem
cries, old friends and swCethearts
loved and lost. For he had
begun to live early in life and had
much to look back upon. though Tor
all that It's doubtful il he were mere
than thirty at the time he became in
volved in the fortunes Of the Pool
OF Flame.
For the rest of him, barring the re-
fractory tie, the man was strikingiy
we'll groomed, while his surroundings
spoke for comfortable circumstances.
On the authority Of the absent and re-
grcttcd Danny, who had long served
the ORcurke in the intimate caQacl-
ties OF body-servaDt, contid2nt and
chancellor Of the excheGuer tth:s last,
Of course. whenever there happened
to be any exchaQuer to require chan
ceror), there was never anyone ~ &!l
who could spend money or wear
clothes like himself, meaning the mas
- TNF,- la u