Show j tiie I 1 me masi who remembered 11 narrative narratives of the remarkable exploits of barton cortice BY FREDERIC RED DALE reincarnated hero of strange author of adventures as related by john dare american journal st the heir of the ages etc F THE succession J 7 coper W by NN 0 G cow r ah elit t a uret great br la n 1 barton cortice a young new E land er of scotch irish descent gifted kith alth an altogether uncommon mental ty possesses the unusual and uncanny powel powei of v v adly recall ng recollections of I 1 s B go 0 o passed n former reincarnations cantu les ies apart in elud ng many strange adventures by flood and nd fi 11 id ld some of them connected ith ions long forgette tor for gotte i treasure hoards concerning wh ch by virtue of I 1 Is ne ve rd gift I 1 e Is able to instance definite nite dates and exact locally es at the t me NN when hen tl ese con necked nar narrative narra es begin cortice happens to be in london ally penn less al though potentially he corn coin bands great wealth he is reaching out for so 0 o ne one of means and of integrity who wi vt I 1 evince enough faith in his strange story to fl ft nance him in a critical and actual test such an angel appears in tle tl e person of lord westbury waine marquis of scarsdale a young peer of great wealth who Is eccentrically fond of bizarre ad ventures retta cortice barto s aster s ster dependent upon him pel bel eves I 1 n p ii e itly in her brother having acted as I 1 s aman i ensia in setting down certain of his rec ol lection s sl SI e and S arsdale eventually make a match of it as do barton cor tice and the ladi blanche sister of lord wayne this ori ordinal inal quartet are rein forced by john dare a amer an D ws paper man vl 0 acts as narrator a i d aper mal a oin oln I 1 a british min ng ens eng n eer at af er some ng a iv nt res connected with a forgotten goll gol 1 nine in in the andes of per an I 1 an in e afe t searel for the cache of B ack beard the pirate the young adventurer at some personal per peri I 1 Is induced to r teal the mystery of an old scotch tarn ly join jol n dare tells the story ESPITE the dial le ie ot of publicity on the part of D all ronce ined in these queer adventures and the natural let benco of cortice himself con ar berning his weird and peculiar g ft it was fin possible to prevent 4 sundry leaks enter g report re portel ei a from the telegraph and the express attempted in ter views but went away as empty as they came that however did not bar them from drawing on their imaginations imag nations and as they were unaware of the real source of barton bartons s gift they ascribed his power to a rather superior sort ol 01 clairvoyance or second sight its it s probably just as well grinned fortye they d never credit the tr ith even if it they could compre bend it but what these gentry published was just eno gh to het idle c rios has ity and the yo ing amer can be began an to be pestered with callers who greit ly to his disgust in ask ng dg for sittings or read oi 01 crys tal ind and it was aas v ry d L tor for retta to pers persuade Udde them that her birther bi other dealt in none of tl if om u modern i and that his gilt gift was not for hire one morn ng however there appeared on the scene a personage persona gc of a different cliar character acter a mr air seaton sillery thy the filous Q C member of the equally celebrated lin coin s firm of cadogan sillery quarles sillery known as legal lights throughout the three king doms I 1 have ventured to call mr air cor car tice said sillery in the hope that vou ou will give us your aid in a very puzzling matter he ile was an englishman of the best type tall florid blonde mustached musti ched and clad in morning costume with ohp th gardenia in the buttonhole ol 01 his black frock coat his ills high and nir row head cool gray eyes ai and a d fau fault alt less manners proclaimed him one ot at those londoners who are equally at home in cairo or canton paris or paraguay and to whom the secrets of halt half the peerage are an oper book cortice was mas both reserved and non committal in ili manner as he fingered 1 aillery s card rather dubiously even if I 1 were in jhc habit babit of fr er advising people he said I 1 f flank tank ly don t see why you apply to me mr air sillery the solicitor la sighed pleasantly plea a very winning lu laigh gh it was too frankly mr air cortice I 1 and the peo pie we ne represent have no claim on you whatever equally of course I 1 take no stock in all the bally rot the papers u have been printing about you and nd your er pardon me but I 1 scarce ly know what word to use shall we nay your remarkable powers of divina tion oh I 1 guess that will do as a work ing has s laughed cortice he ile had bad evidently ei tal en a liking to his caller I 1 ashod I 1 ord wayne to give me an I 1 ii ti od ad action said sillery but he de dined fl itly illy told me in 10 fact tl at I 1 m riddle my own canoe that you ii oil in t b te to and that j ou on might I 1 dp rip me that settles it lat laughed ched cortice kny ny friend of westbury wayne 9 in nel el cone and now suppose QU ou let me s know ta tie e worst in its I 1 ardly likely thit I 1 can be any manner of use you know b t I 1 in at your sei service vice ili ill I 1 ask returned sillery to tell yo the ti th we i ie e up a ti atiee ee if 3 ou on cin c in t heli bell us boboly ay cin cortice Gor tice i 1 od it I 1 non corn coin a itally and waited fo to the otter oti er to go on for bev ral gin gln gi n rations mr air cor car gi si I 1 S fiery n v I 1 rm have been the lep I 1 I 1 seis of 0 a very old border tn in lit i pd biamino the title dates aiom fi am james I 1 he was aso also james VI of scotland but the Bal manos leally trace the r ancestry much further back than that the estates are in perthshire Perth shire benvenue castle overlooks loch kathrine and is one of the few old feudal piles remaining in that country the calianos Cal Bal manos were of the old faith I 1 ke many of the scottish gentry ry and took sides with the stuarts before and after the forty five on this account they were attainted fled to france and the title earl of bal mano was annulled by king george dut but subsequent a cadet of the house one archie krehle Bal baldano matio so distinguished himself under dive clive and Ila hastings stings tl it at tie tle estate were restored I 1 y royal N arrant to the elder older line and the title revived meantime Mein time a oun aunger er branch of the famil I 1 ad remained at home gone into trade amassed a huge fortune and tl cir success u raset set ip a claim to tl e baron the c nse se dra bragd gd through jhc co arts for many years being un fin liy IN earned carried to the house of lords th re the b iden den I 1 of brov rov ng the sue suc on nas nias cast upon the elder brand bit unfortunately innately all docu n centary evidence was lost the old family deeds ind parchments the inal patent of nobility all the essen papers in fact with wl ich to estabel sli sit a claim which Is I 1 to be perfectly vald nal d yet wl ten must re main in abeyance so far 9 the right ful heir is concerned i inless they can be to fo nd now mr cort ce we be lieve liene that these deeds are still in L x istance our theory is tl ti at during tl e troublous times of it h I 1 spoke they were hidden away 9 newt new ere in U B evenue fastle yet ill agh the has been ransacked lic n moat to battlement every i ook jook aid a id Lorner being explored tiP lored sh chrt rt f led tea i g ne n toi e fr in another th tb n q est h his is s been univ ling I 1 rg so ne d cian tin to v i 1 for I 1 belp ell As I 1 bild it at the beg ni ing I 1 am rm all in th tb lark as to yo ir boxers I 1 don ki 0 A w ell er y i c in it ip lp u antl juta r w ine that it if ros bic ble y vo i v il ii I 1 do to ho I 1 n iy ay add in closne losne as ng that a very pretty little hanss hangs fire at this verv very i lament onu nt keiding pel ding a settle n ent of the d sp te tb the title the resent earl ot of 13 I 1 indi inar of the rider elder I 1 nc no mark vou has hag fal en in love v eiith ith his coi cot n three a to fo r times removed who belongs to the younger branch either he Is the lightf il it oi 01 i er of th title r she la is abe ladys lady s family will neither give up th ir claim nor der consent to the i irr ge go inless lord archie retires in the lady ladys s fa vor or can estabi sh his own rights by means of the necessary doc docu u ments As usual retta cortice had been present during this recital and worn wom an like she pricked up her ears at hint of a love story she glanced acx foully at her brother wl en sillery ceased speaking and was as about to make some rely ark bit b it to fo the instant she caught a glimpse of bar tons ton s face he ile vas zis leaning forward in his chair in a vera ver characteristic itt ili tudo tude with him his lad lead bent his eyes veiled yelled his hands eloped clasped lousily loo aly between I 1 is knees without rasing his head he began to speak in a colorless mono toi tot e I 1 haven t been in scotland at least 1 icely although b th my mother mothers s and uj fathers people pr lore nere scots V B it while I 1 was list ning i L curious ni on came to me I 1 will deser be to ou pan part of that which I 1 saw from the banks of a long narrow lake agnost walled in by steep hills or mountains there rises a platea i ere vi cd ed b a massive pilo of 0 masonry evidently of verj ver ancient con true tion there are sq viro towers at caal end and the connecting n wall all is battle nned on one side the cills nalls almost overhang the bl b it ie w of the lake on tl ti c other they fall away to vard the s ope of the mo nio nta n and on this side there Is a more recent houie house set in a garden bordered bor derod by a hedge and some gnarl ed and yew trees the castle is deserted and crumbling crun bling to ruin the house is sh littered and untenanted upon the land weird a de there towers oer oner the castle q ite ito a considerable mounta n its s les cloteel with grass at 01 verdure wh wit lo 10 W it summit of bare granite sh h nes r addy in the sun I 1 seem to know the place but cortice ceased speaking sat up drew big hi land across I 1 is eyes and lo 10 ked around inquiringly ay ketta retta placed her hand soother gly on 11 a arm what did I 1 saya he indu zed an thing coherent r to the point I 1 ive ve got it all down dear retta N is bog beg nning when sillery inter erupted bay he be echoed with a deep breath bi eath W hy by mr cortice I 1 don t kno how you do it but it a almost uncanny ancar ny why you ve just given us a perfect of benvenue Benie Bense nue castle after that 9 queried cortice ho bo was 1 i vapidly picking up some pet phrases of the english and using them cor car erectly too retta rose and so did the solicitor my brother la Is apt to be tired after these experiences she insistence so I 1 must eba a bir you to leave us u no nov v by this time to tomorrow morrow we may be able to give you something more definite it if he cely sees his i nay ay then he may be able t to alel help you bouy billery was vas too well bed bled to insl insey Z on i 1 ng dg an inte view und unda thes cot conditions editions so made 11 us bow api yi departed dc parted promising to cd the nit nir j day o 0 I 1 I 1 that evening I 1 called ane learned I 1 froin from retta about the 1 ati biange event astbury westbury est bury wayne aatu 1 in for an hour but cortice i itself was as s lent and in one of his incubating moods clearly his sub conscious mind was turned back upon itself struggle ng or cogitating over sone sorie half revealed recollections loused by his interview with S cilery from cihat NN hat little ret a had bad been able to tell me it looked as lawyer had accidentally stumbled TOI az one of those mysterious rein earna alons of cortice however Ilo wever the artir row would tell and you may be s 14 I 1 promised to make thi trio a qu 14 ahen sillery paid I 1 is second call all I 1 eleven found us 1 all 11 ass bled barton was now neither dna drca aard nor preoccupied on the contrary 5 e waa was alert clear eyed and clear clea headed d 0 10 X I 1 f evidently some further light had been vouchsafed to him during the hours of darkness just what form tl if ego mental processes would take no one child ild pred ct not even the he acer himself I 1 fancy hon oer it waa was he who now took the lead in the conversation as soon is WP were all seated he ile began by baying saying mr air S fiery I 1 cannot permit you to rest under the sl s g on as to my manner and method ol 01 I 1 re there la Is nothing of the 01 on ol lit in what I 1 do or say nor is t tl ere anything resembling second gl t or clairvoyance what I 1 have been able to do thus far what per I 1 ap aps I 1 may be able to do tor for you Is owing entirely to a ery very simple and wholly natural gift which has been vouchsafed to me others may pos sess this same gift tho the agh perhaps not in the same vivid degree As to that I 1 cannot siy sty briefly all I 1 do is to remember my previous existences sillery looked politely mystified you mein he began when cort cart ce took tool the words out of his mouth I 1 mean that I 1 am a firm believer in re incarnation so are plenty of other men I 1 believe in fact I 1 know that ny ego has passed through h many rieN lois existences wherein I 1 hae hane lla el many parts so has every I 1 at y else ic tc cording to my theory aho only difference in my case is that I 1 cin remen her ber many of these a is states tates not all of them and not necessarily in their regulate sequence 1 I hats ill there s no chin canery no hink lanky about the matter now if jou ou can digest that mr vir sillery and still desire to prosecute the search of which ou on spoke yesterday I 1 believe I 1 can 1 belp elp ou but on two condi eions raising his hand warningly the first is that you allow me to work in i ny ay iy a w may ay and without re in ingrati n of any kind the second age I 1 being that you promise faithfully to keep silent concerning what I 1 have jast repealed aled well W ell you may be sure that seaton sillery was as more than ready to prom ise and seeing that wayne had vouched for him no do abt cal Coi tice felt that his word was A as as good as his bond and perhaps a little better go so the requisite requisite assurance being given cor car tice at artince once assumed the direction of affairs aff ilas you have full access to BenNe benvenue nue castle at all tely was the answer then I 1 advise you to book four or f ave ve places by the night mail for dum barton this evening say nothing to your client the earl of Balt balmana nano until your return it shall be done said sillery who had hid h id the air of being carried off his feet yet was game to the last any farther instruct loiis no all I 1 believe except that I 1 shall leave leane you to arrange for our transportation between D ambar ton and the castle nv ell e 11 travel light a few hours on the spot Is 13 all that I 1 shall ire so agreeing to meet i s at euston duston in t me for the express at 7 50 that same n ht S cilery tool too his departure re marking to me on our way N ay to the lift ili t how the de 0 ro did he know that dumbarton a the ne nearest station to Ben benvent venie e 9 imn mediately edia tely after the rest of us retta barton and myself sallied out for I 1 with west bury at the ritz and thence to a concert at albert hall but when wayne heard that there was an adventure on tap he demand ed to be let in and so barton s fore s abt in bespeaking five places was j istl fied well the q reached dumbar ton next morning about ten and thanks to sillery a having wired ahead found a big touring car awald awaiting n m us after breakfast break fat at the mitre ho hotel t el a lunch basket and a couple of thermos bottles were shipped and we all climbed aboard for the 12 mil mile run to benvenue castle it was a first visit to scotland for the cortices and myself retta went |