Five Mile Beach weekly journal., 1917-10-26

q brother or yoursf | should think you
had sat for this yourselfr'
mi. Shenstone is distantly related to
me-" he replied. I'VE have a common
ancestor"
But is this good Of ShenstoneT l
demanded. tapping the photograph. ~
never saw him."
~"You might ask MI. Miles," said he.
l summoned Miles and showed the
picture.
"Finel" he exclaimed. Couldn't be
better"
did you ask Shenstone for this 2"
said | to Sidney. He nodded.
Ever meet him before?" Sidney
shook his head.
WAS he surprised at the sight Of
your"
"He certainly was, and amused too.
The resemblance is SO close as to be
really ridiculous, considering the diff
ference in u circumstances"
l paid Sidney the additional SIS, and
though I subsequently learned that
he himself had posed for the picture,
/ have never regretted the bargain.
About two months later a somewhat
mysterious stranger called upon me to
inquire for Sidney Colbert's address.
Suspecting this man to be a collector,
l declined to give the desired informa-
ton. On the following day a lawyer
from the Wall street district came
with the same request. He assured me
he was acting in my friends interest.
/ told him that Sidney was just recov-
ering from an illness and was In miser-
able circumstances and that | would
make it warn for any one who an
noyed him. Then I gave the address.
l was not altogether easy In my
mind, however, and consequently I
called at Sidney's lodgings one evening
In the latter part of that week. He
was not at home, and nobody had seen
him for two days. Much disturbed, 1
went to see Miss Dean In the studio
building, where she dwelt In girl bach
elor fashion.
Miss Dean was quaking with nerv-
BUSINESS, though she tried to conceal it.
l was sure that she had been pacing
the floor, which was Uttered with all
the evening newspapers. She began by
telling me that she did not know where
Sidney was, but when | smiled upon
her sadly she abandoned that deception
and admitted that she did know, but
was pledged not to tell.
HE has been so HIP she cried, clinch-
ing her hands distractedly. HE ought
to be In the country, where he could be
quiet and have pure air to breathe"
as he in any sort of trouble?" l asked,
and she said no, except that he was
very weak from illness and needed
rest.
as he at work? p
"Yes."
'Then he will o 10 have some money
and can go out of town." said l.
Twenty dollars a week." she re-
sponded, with whitening scorn.
That was all I learned about Sidney,
but Miss Dean consented to speak more
freely of herself. l thought it my duty
to inquire, because for all l knew she
might be penniless. 1t appeared, how
ever, that she was a fairly good man.
ager, and, though the allowance upon
which she lived was barely sufficient
for her support, she had eve gone in
debt. Indeed, she had for a time pre-
served some small savings, but these
she had spent for Sidney during his
illness. Sidney did not know this, of
course. 1t would never occur to him
that little expenses for a sick mans
delicate p%rovender could have any con-
siderable total.
l saw Sylvia quite frequently after
that, but did not see Sidney 0 could
l get track of him, though l made vari-
Gus endeavors. A hint fom Sylvia gave
me the impression that the mysterious
work in which Sidney was engaged
might not be viewed with approval by
a stern m~oralist, and this led me to be-
lieve that be was employed by Shen-
stone. 1t was possible, however, that
he might be serving Shenstone's enc
mics. Gould it be possible that his re-
semblance to the Spectator was being
used in some wild scheme of persona
ton? Sidney would never consent to
such dishonesty, but in the hands of
the shrewd and reckless men who
were fighting Shenstone's pool my
friend would be a mere child. 1t would
be no trouble at all for them to make
Sidney believe that black was white.
Sylvia was as careless as most wo-
men are of the ethics of business. Her
sole anxiety in this matter was for Sid
ney's health. | made out that she had
either very meager reports of him or
none at all.
81 should not be surprised any day
to hear that he was dead" said she to
me, with black foreboding written on
her face.
1 think it was not t~wenty-four hours
afterward hat l was going through the
regular daily report from one Of the
city news bureaus and came upon this
paragraph typewriter upon the thin,
dirty yellow paper that they use:
aSidnav CoIharf a wrifar was fakau