St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1922-08-19
CHAPTER !.
Carnival.

and Checkers club, and gazed out upor
me riotous streets Of New Orleans
Half an hour he had been waiting here
] Il the lounge room for DR.. Cyril Ans
lev. a middle-aged bachelor who haG
nracticed in Opelousas for twenty
:. years and who had come to the city
y for the Mardi Gras festivities. An.
other man might have seemed irritated
nv the wait, but joachim Fell was quite
unruf1ed.
He had much the air Of clerk. His
features were thin and unremarkable
q his pale eyes constantly wore an ex.
pression Of wondering aloofness, as
though he saw around him much that
ne vatnly tried to understand. In his
entire manner was shy reticence. He
was no clerk, however; this was evil
dent from his attire. He was CARRIED
from head to foot in soberly blending
shades OF gray whose richness was
notable only at close view. One fan
cied him very precise sort Of man, an
old maid Of the wrong sex.
Doctor Ansley, an Inverness flung
over his evening clothes, entered the
lounge room, and Fell turned to him
with dry, toneless chuckle.
"You're the limit! Did you forget
we were going to the Maillards' to-
night7 However, we need not leave for
i fifteen minutes yet, at least"
Doctor Ansley laid aside his cape,
stick and hat and dropped into one Of
the comfortable big chairs.
"You intend to mask for the Mall
lards'7" Ansley cast his eye over the
gray business attire Of the little man.
II never mask" joachim Fell shook
bis head It'll get domino and go as
I am. Excuse NELL order domino
!. now. Back in moment"
Doctor Ansley followed the slight
figure of the other man with specula-
tive eyes. Well as he knew Jachin
Fell, he invariably found the man a
source OF puzzled speculation.
During many years Jachin Fell had
been member Of the most exclusive
New Orleans clubs. He was even re-
celved In the inner circles Of Creole
society, which In Itself was evidence SUI
preme as to his position. At this par
ticular club he was famed as q wizard
master Of chess. He never entered
tournament, yet he consistently defeat
ed the champions in private matches
defeated them with bewildering ease,
4 shy and Apologize ease, an ease
which left the beholders incredulous
and aghast. ....." ...... .....-a -. .-
With NIL this, joachim Fell was very
much OF mystery. even among his
closest friends. Very little was known
/ of him; he was lawyer, and certainly
maintained offices in the Maison
Blanche building, but he never ap-
peared In the courts and no case OF his
pleading was known.
Ansley knew him as we'll as did most
men, and Ansley knew OF few who
could boast Of having been guest in
Jachin Fell's home. There was a moth
er, IN invalid, Of whom Fell sometimes
spoke and to whom he appeared to de-
vote himself. The family, an old one
In the city, promised to die out with
joachim Fell ".@~.@""
Ansley puffed at his cigar and con-
sidered these things. Outside, in the
New Orleans streets, was rocketing
the mad mirth of carnival. The week
preceding Mardi Grns was at its close.
Now, as ever, was Mardi Gras SYM
bolized by Mosques. In New Orleans
the masquerade was not the pale and
pitfful frolic OF colder climes, where
the occasion Is but one for display of
Jewels and costumes, and where actual
.concealment of identity Is farce.
Here In New Orleans were Jewels and
costumes in a profusion Of splendor
but here was preserved the underlying
idea of the masque itself-that In con-
cealment of identity lay the life of the
thing!
When Jnchin Fell returned and light
ed his cigar he sank into one Of the
luxurious chairs beside Ansley and in
:dicated a newspaper lying across the
latter's knee, It's tlaring headlines
standing out blackly
whats that about the Midnight
Masqner? He's not appeared againf"
WHAT" Ansley glanced ut him In
surprise. "fo,'ve not heard? Good
heavens, man! lie showed up last
night at the I.apeyrouse dance, two
minutes before midnight, as usual A
detective had been engaged, but was
afterWard found locked in n closet,
mound With his own handouts. The
hlnsqner wore his usual costume-and
went Through the party famously,
stripping everyone in sight Then he
backed through the doors and van
fshed"
Eel pointed Ills .''gnr at the ceiling.
ana Sighed. "Gth. most interesting!
N" loot WIS vnlu..h at about hun
us"h fhnlsnn's"
thought you said you'd not heard
Of it7'' demanded Ansley.
Fell laughed softly and shyly. Il
oldnt. l merely haZarded Il guess
Wizard!" The doctor laughed In
unison. Eyes. about that amount"
The Masquer is piker," observed
fell, In his toneless voice.
II Eth? A pker-when he can make a
nundred-thousand-dol haul?"
Don't dream that those figures rep
resent value, Doctor. They don't! All
we loot the Masquer has taken since