Meade County news. [volume] (Meade, Kan.) 1900-1918, 1916-03-30

| lleuldH WHOSe DTllllanl DldCk ndlT ant
glowing pink complexion rendered hin
a bit too conspicuous for his own com
fort. but also. in the second cabin, hi
valet, a boy Of sixteen who looked
eighteen
The gentlemans name on the pas
senger list didn't. of course. in thu
least resemble Bourke His valet:
was given as Michael Lanyard
The origin of this name is obscure;
Michael, being easily corrupted into
good Irish Mickey, may safely be at
tributed to Bourke; Lanyard has e
tang of the sea which suggests rem
iniscence of some sea tale priced by
the pseudo Marcel Troyon.
In New York began the sec ond stage
in the education of a professional
criminal. The boy would have
searched far to find a preceptor Of
more sound attachments than Bourke
1t is, however, only fair to say thai
Bourke would have looked far for ar
apter pupil.
ChNNi totSiu6C MlNhoOi Ian
yard learned many things; he became
mathematician of considerable prom
Use, an expert mechanician, a con
noisseur of armor plate and explosives
in their more pacific applications. and
he learned to grade precious stones
with a glance Also because Bourke
was born of gentlefolk. he learned to
speak English and what clothes To
wear and when to wear them, as well
as the cultivated use of knife and
fork at table; and because Bourke was
a diplomatist doomed to blush unseen
he acquired the knack Of being at ease
In every grade Of society-he came ia
know that a self-made millionaire
taken the right way, is as approach,
able as one whose millions date back
even unto the third generation; he
could order a dinner at Sherrys as
readily as drinks at Sharkey's. Most
valuable accomplishment of all, he
learned to laugh.
By way of by-products he picked UP
working acquaintance with Ameri-
can, English and German slang
French slang he already knew as a
mother tongue considerable geo.
graphical knowledge of the capitals OF
Europe, America and Illinois. taste
that Disseminated between tobacco
and the stuff sold as such in France
and a genuine passion for fine paint.
ings.
Finally Bourke drilled into his ap-
prentice the three cardinal principles
of successful cracksmanship-to know
his ground thoroughly before ventur'
ing upon it; to strike and retreat with
the swift precision of a hawk; to
| be friendless.
And the last of these was the great.
est.
You're a promising lad" he said
so often that Lanyard would almost
vince from that formula of introduc-
tion-"a promising lad, though it's sad
should be to say II instead of proud
as am. For I've made ye-but for
me you'd long since have matricu.
lated at La Tour Pointue and gradu
ated with the canaille of the Sante,
And in time you may become first.
chop operator, which I'm not and
never will be: but If you do, twill be
through fighting shy of two things.
The first of the.n's woman, and the
second is man. To make a friend OF
a man you must lower your guard. Or.
dinarily tbs fatal AS for woman, re.
member this. m lad: to let love into
your life you must open door no
mortal hand can close And God only
knows whatll follow in.
IF ever you find you've fallen In
love and can't fall cut, cut the game
on the instant, or you'll end wearing
stripes or broad arrows-the same as
myself would II this cursed cough
wasn't going to be the death of me
No, m lad take fools advice (youll
never get betterl and when you're
shet of me, which will be soon. I'm
thinking, take the lonesome road and
stick to the middle of it, He travels
the fastest who travels alone is a
true saying, but it's only half the
truth: he travels the farthest into the
bargain. Yet the lonesome. road has
its drawbacks, ladvit's damned
lonelyl"
Bourke died in Switzerland of con
sumption. in the winter of 1910-Lan'
yard at his side till the end.
Then the boy set his face against
the world-alone, lonely and remem-
boring.