Produced by Suzanne Shell Leonard Johnsonand PG Distributed ProofreadingTHE BLACK BAGBy LOUIS JOSEPH VANCEWITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY THOMAS FOGARTY1908TO MY MOTHERCONTENTSCHAPTER    I DIVERSIONS OF A RUINED GENTLEMAN   II AND SOME THERE BE WHO HAVE ADVENTURES THRUST UPON THEM  III CALENDARS DAUGHTER   IV 9 FROGNALL STREET W C    V THE MYSTERY OF A FOURWHEELER   VI BELOW BRIDGE  VII DIVERSIONS OF A RUINED GENTLEMANRESUMED VIII MADAME LINTRIGANTE   IX AGAIN BELOW BRIDGE AND BEYOND    X DESPERATE MEASURES   XI OFF THE NORE  XII PICARESQUE PASSAGES XIII A PRIMER OF PROGRESSIVE CRIME  XIV STRATAGEMS AND SPOILS   XV REFUGEES  XVI TRAVELS WITH A CHAPERON XVII ROGUES AND VAGABONDSXVIII ADVENTURERS LUCK  XIX iTHE UXBRIDGE ROAD      iiTHE CROWN AND MITRE     iiiTHE JOURNEYS ENDTHE BLACK BAGIDIVERSIONS OF A RUINED GENTLEMANUpon a certain dreary April afternoon in the year of grace 1906 theapprehensions of Philip Kirkwood Esquire _Artistpeintre_ were enlivenedby the discovery that he was occupying that singularly distressing socialposition which may be summed up succinctly in a phrase through long usagegrown proverbial Alone in London These three words have come to connotein our understanding so much of human misery that to Mr Kirkwood theyseemed to epitomize absolutely if not happily the various circumstancesattendant upon the predicament wherein he found himself Inevitably anextremist because of his youth he had just turned twentyfive hetook no count of mitigating matters and would hotly have resented thesuggestion that his case was anything but altogether deplorable andforlornThat he was not actually at the end of his resources went for nothing heheld the distinction a quibble mockingly immateriallike the store ofguineas in his pocket too insignificant for mention when contrasted withhis needs And his base of supplies the American city of his nativitywhenceand not without a glow of pride in his secret hearthe was wont toregister at foreign hostelries had been arbitrarily cut off from him byone of those accidents sardonically classified by insurance and expresscorporations as Acts of GodNow to one who has lived all his days serenely in accord with the dictatesof his own sweet will taking no thought for the morrow such a situationnaturally seems both appalling and intolerable at the first blush It mustbe confessed that to begin with Kirkwood drew a long and disconsolateface over his fix And in that black hour primitive of its kind in hisbrief span he became conscious of a sinister apparition taking shape athis elbowa shade of darkness which clouting him on the back with askeleton hand croaked hollow salutations in his earCome Mr Kirkwood come its mirthless accents rallied him Have youno welcome for meyou who have been permitted to live the quarter of acentury without making my acquaintance Surely now its high time we werelearning something of one another you and I But I dont understandreturned Kirkwood blankly I dont know youTrue But you shall I am the Shade of CareDull Care murmured Kirkwood bewildered and dismayed for the visitationhad come upon him with little presage and no invitation whateverDull Care the Shade assured him Dull Care am Iand Care thatsanything but dull into the bargain Care thats like a keen pain in yourbody Care that lives a horror in your mind Care that darkens your daysand flavors with bitter poison all your nights Care thatBut Kirkwood would not listen further Courageously submissive to hisdestiny knowing in his heart that the Shade had come to stay he yet foundspirit to shake himself with a dogged air to lift his chin set the strongmuscles of his jaw and smile that homely wholesome smile which was hispeculiarlyVery well he accepted the irremediable with grim humor what must bemust I dont pretend to be glad to see you butyoure free to stay aslong as you find the climate agreeable I warn you I shant whine Lots ofmen hundreds and hundreds of em have slept tight o nights with you forbedfellow if they could grin and bear you I believe I canNow Care mocked him with a sardonic laugh and sought to tighten upon hisshoulders its bony grasp but Kirkwood resolutely shrugged it off and wentin search of mans most faithful dumb friend to wit his pipe the whichwhen found and filled he lighted with a spill twisted from the envelope ofa cable message which had been vicariously responsible for his introductionto the Shade of CareIts about time he announced watching the paper blacken and burn in thegrate fire that I was doing something to prove my title to a living Andthis was all his valedictory to a vanished competence Anyway he addedhastily as if fearful lest Care overhearing might have read into histone a trace of vain repining anyway Im a sight better off than thosepoor devils over there I really have a great deal to be thankful for nowthat my attentions drawn to itFor the ensuing few minutes he thought it all over soberly but with astout heart standing at a window of his bedroom in the Hotel Pless handsdeep in trouser pockets pipe fuming voluminously his gaze wandering outover a blurred infinitude of wet shining roofs and sooty chimneypots allof London that a lowering drizzle would let him see and withal by no meansa cheering prospect nor yet one calculated to offset the dishearteninginfluence of the indomitable Shade of Care But the truth is thatKirkwoods brain comprehended little that his eyes perceived his thoughtswere with his heart and that was half a world away and sick with pityfor another and a fairer city stricken in the flower of her lovelinesswrithing in Promethean agony upon her storied hillsThere came a rapping at the doorKirkwood removed the pipe from between his teeth long enough to say Comein pleasantlyThe knob was turned the door opened Kirkwood swinging on one heelbeheld hesitant upon the threshold a diminutive figure in the livery of thePless pagesMister KirkwoodKirkwood noddedGentleman to see you sirKirkwood nodded again smiling