The Celina Democrat. (Celina, O. [Ohio]) 1895-1921, 1912-02-16
CHAPTER !,

oue oi lNoSN Ndgn MuheN HolC ANANN'N
seems to reside In rendering Us irri
taby conscious OF our tooclose cas-
ings Of toO-solid flesh: whose humid
and inert atmosphere, sodden with
tepid moisture. cllngs palpably TO the
body. causing men to feel as II they
crawled. halfsuffocated. at the bot
tom of a sen Of rarefied water.
The hour may have been eight; 1t
may have been not quite that. but II
was almost dark The windows were
oblongs. black as night In the yellow
walls of ORourkes bedchamber in the
Hotel dOrient Monte Carlo.
have the honor to make known
to YOU the O'Rourke Of Castle
ORourke IN the county Of Galway
ireland. otherwise and more widely
known as Colonel Terence ORourke;
a chevalier Of the Legion Of Honor OF
France: sometime an officer in the
Forc ign Legion in Algiers; a wander
er. spendthrift. free.lance, cosmopoE
ite-a gentleman .adyenturer. he's been
termed
He was dressing for dinner. The
glare of half dozen electric bulbs dis
covered him all but ready for public
appe .rance-not. however. quite ready.
In hi shirt sleeves be faced a cheval'
glass. pluckily (if with the hasgard
eye Of exasperation) endeavoring to
sutmaneuveT a dGmon OF inanimate
Derversity which had entered into his
dress tie. melting 1t to refuse to as
sumo. for all his coaxing and his STRAIT
agems. that effect Of nonchalant per
lection so much sought after. so sell
dom achieved.
Patiently was the thing possessed
by a devil: O'Rourke made no manner
Of doubt Of that Though for minutes
at a time he fumbled. fidgeteO, fumed
1t was without avail.
His room itself was in q state OF
,~nsideraLle Notwithstanding due
mainly TO O'Rourke's character site ef-
forts TO find Just what he might hap
pen to desire at any given time with
cut troubling to think where II ought
properly to be.
Something OF this confusion. mir.
rored in the glass. was likewise re-
hected in ORouTke's eyes, what time
he paused for breath and profanity
Faith. tbs worse than a DAVIS nest.
the place. he admitted, scandaliEed
How ever did lone lone man-dO
all that. will ye be telling me?" He
aung out two helpless baffled hands.
and let them tall After a meditative
pause be added Damn that Alsa
tianl"-with reference to his latest
and least competent valet. who had
but recently been discharged with
aea in his ear and a months unearn
ed wage IN his pocket For knowing
me ways" sighed O'Rourke. there
WIS never anyone the like Of Danny
For as many as three livelong days
this man mad been reduced to the ne
cessity OF dressing himself with his
own fair hands-and that at least
thrice daily. who did nothing BY
halves And. somehow. mysteriously,
hls discarded garments had for the
most part remained where he haL
thrown them despite The earnest et
Etore something resembling order from
this man made chaos For servants
all liked well the O'Rourke. .n.proyi-
dent soul that he was. freehanded
to a fault
You are invited 20 picture to your
self O'Rourke as invariably he was
in one OF his not infreQuenl but ever
transient phases OF affluence that is.
a very magnificent figure indeed
Standing a BIZ over six feet. deep OF
chest and lean Of flank. with his long,
straight legs he looked what he had
been meant TO be. a man of arms and
action His head was shapely. its
dark hah curling the least in the
world: and incredibly stained trans
parent brown his features were lean
eager and rendered very attractive
by quick boyish eyes In whose warm
blue-gray depths humor twinkled
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
ories. old friends and sweethearts
loved and lost For he had
begun to live early in life and had
much to look back upon though for
all thar IT'S doubtful If he were more
than thirty al the time he became in
volved IN the fortunes OF the Poo
of Flame
For the rest Of him. barring the re-
fraetory tie the man was strikingly
well groomed while his surroundings
spoke for comfortab e circumstances
on the authority OF the absent and re
grettod Fanny. who mad long served
the O'Rourke in the intimate capaci
ties Of ,odyservant conhdant and
chancellor Of the exchequer ttlis last
of course whenever there happened
to be any excheQuer TO require a chan
cellorl there was never anyone az all
who could spend money or wear
clothes like himself, meaning The mas
ter. And at this time O'Rourke was
ostensiby in funds and consequently
(as the saying runsl cutting a wide
swath Heaven and himself only knew
the limits OF his resources, but his
manner a Monte CristO might have
aped TO advantage. His play was 9
wonder Of the Casino for the matter
Of that MS high-handed and extrava
giant ways had made the entire Prin
oipality OF Monaco conscious OF his
presence In the land And you fai
IN The least to understand the natur,
Of the man q you thlnk Tor o momea
lhat 4 rked him 20 ne admired, poir'