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Show to say, the pimps and the worst class of men and women soon got the money away from our poor fellows. The officers, in their way, v.ere but little behind the men in their lavish-ness. lavish-ness. Champagne was their common drink, and several of them invested in coaches! the last thing they would ever have a chance of using. Giles Vernon, although the most wasteful and profuse man I ever saw. desired to spend his money in London. Portsmouth being too small a theater for him. But the pressing affair of the satisfaction he owned Cant Overton had to be settled. After much hard thinking, Giles came to me on the day after we reached Portsmouth, and said : "Dicky boy, read this letter and give me your opinion of it." This was the letter: "II. M. S. Ajax, May 17, 1799. "Capt. Philip Overton: "Deai Sir: Tills Is to inform you that I have reached Portsmouth, after a very successful cruise tn the Ajax, when we took the Indomptable and Xantippe and a large sum In specie. My shalr is considerable consider-able more money In short than I ever saw, much less, handled, in my life. I would like a month in London to spend this money before offering my carkass to be made full of holes by you. Dear sir, consider. If I escape your marksmanship, the month more or less will be of little account: and if I fall, I shai; miss the finest chance of seeing the world I ever had in my life. I think, sir, with difidence I say it, that my record in the Ajax is enough to make plain I am not shirking shirk-ing the satisfaction I owe you, but I would take it as a personal favor if you would put it oft! to this flay month, when I will be in London. And as I shall eat and drink of the best, 'tis ten to one I will be much fater and therefore be a much better mark for you. I am, dear sir, Your obliged and "Obedient servant, "GILES VERNON." I pointed out to Giles that, although the tone of the letter was quite correct, cor-rect, the writing and spelling were scarce up to the standard I was more bookish than Giles. But he replied with some heat: "Who, while reading the communication communi-cation of a gentleman, will be so base as to sneer at the grammar or spelling?" spell-ing?" So the letter went as it was, and in reply came a very handsome, well-expressed letter from Capt. Overton, Over-ton, not only agreeing to postpone it a month, but for six weeks, which pleased Giles mightily. I wish to say, although Giles was inexpert with the pen, he had no lack of either polish or ideas, and was as fine an officer as ever walked the deck. The" matter with Overton finally settled, set-tled, and the ship being paid off, Giles and I started for London, as happy as When I reached Sir Peter's houss about noon, the same tall and insolent footman that I had seen on my first visit opened the door for me. Lady Hawkshaw, wearing the same black velvet gown and the identical feathers, feath-ers, received me, and sitting with her were Daphne Carmichael and the glorious, the beautiful, the enchanting Lady Arabella Stormont. If I had fallen madly in love with her when I was but 14, and had only seven and sixpence, one may imagine where I found myself when I was near IT. and had 2,000 in a bag in my hands. Lady Hawkshaw's greeting was stiff; but far from unkind; and she introduced me to the young ladies, who curtsied most beautifully to me. and. I may say, looked at me not unkindly. un-kindly. "Is that your prize-money in that bag, Richard?" asked Lady Hawk-shaw, Hawk-shaw, immediately. I replied it was. "Jeames," she said, "go and make my compliments to Sir Peter, and say to him that if he Has nothing better to do, I would be glad to see him at once. And order the coach." James departed. I sat in adoring silence, oblivious of Daphne, but gazing at Lady Arabella until she exclaimed, pettishly: "La! Have I got a cross-eye or a crooked nose, Mr. Richard, that you can't take your eyes off me?" "You have neither," I replied, gallantly. gal-lantly. "And my name is not Mr. Richard, Rich-ard, but Mr. Glyn, at your ladyship's service." "Arabella," said Lady Hawkshaw in a voice of thunder, "be more particular par-ticular in your address to young gentlemen." gen-tlemen." "Oh, yes, ma'am!" pertly replied Lady Arabella. "But such very young gentlemen, like Mr. Glyn, or Mr. Thin, or whatever his name may be, are always al-ways difficult to please in the way of address. If you are familiar, they are affronted; and if you are reserved, they think you are making game of them." By this speech I discovered that although al-though Lady Hawkshaw might rule her world, terrorize Sir Peter, and make the lords of the admiralty her humble servitors, she had one rebel in the camp, and .that was Lady Arabella Stormont. I saw that her remarks displeased dis-pleased Lady Hawkshaw, but she endured en-dured them in silence. Who, though, would not endure anything from that cherub mouth and those dazzling eyes? Sir Peter now appeared and greeted me. "Sfr Peter," said Lady Hawkshaw in her usual authoritative manner, "you will go in the coach with me to the bank, with Richard Glyn, to deposit his money. You will be ready in ten minutes, when the coach will be at the door." "I will go with you, madam," replied Sir Peter; "but I shall order my horse, and ride a-horseback, because I do not like riding in that damned stuffy coach. And, besides, when you and your feathers get in, there is no room for me." "You ride a-horseback!" sniffed Lady Hawkshaw. "Even the grooms and stable boys laugh at you. You are always talking some sea nonsense about keeping the-horse's head to the wind, and yawing and luffing and bowsing at the bowline, and what not; and, besides, I am afraid to trust you since Brown Jane threw you in the park." It ended by Sir Peter's going in the coach, where the little man lay back in the corner, nearly smothered by Lady Hawkshaw's voluminous robe, and pishing and pshawing the whole way. But I was quite happy albeit I was the victim of Lady Hawkshaw in having hav-ing my money kept for me for on the seat beside me was Lady Arabella, who chose to go with us. She made much game of me, but I had the spirit to answer her back. After placing the money, we took an airing in the park, and then returned to dinner at five o'clock. I neither knew nor cared what became of Daphne; for was I not with the adored Lady Arabella? That night Lady Hawkshaw was at home, and I had my first experience of a London rout. The card tables were set on the lower floor, for although Lady Hawkshaw hated cards, yet it was commonly said that no one could entertain company in London without them. (TO BE CONTINUED.) ' SERIAL? 12 STORY Cvj the loveT of the LADY J MOLLY ELLIOT SEA WELL I tOopyright, 1906, llobbs-ilorrillCo.) SYNOPSIS. At 14 years of ago Admiral Sir Peter Hawkshaw's nephew, Richard Glyn, fell deeply In .love at first sight with Lady Arabella Stormont, who spurned his attentions. The lad, an orphan, was given a berth as midshipman mid-shipman on tho Ajax by his uncle. Giles Vornon, nephew of Sir Thomas Vernon, becamo the boy's pal. They attended a theater where Hawkshaw's nephew saw Lady Arabella. Vernon met Philip Overton, Over-ton, next In line for Sir Thomas Vernon's estate. They started a, duel which was interrupted. in-terrupted. Vernon, Overton and Hawkshaw's Hawk-shaw's nephew found themselves attracted attract-ed by prtty ,ady Arabella. The Ajax in battle defeated French warships In the Mediterranean. CHAPTER IV. We took the Xantippe home the Indomptable went to the bottom of the Bay of Biscay but before our prize-money prize-money was settled up we were off again; Sir Peter dearly loved cruising in blue water. It was near two years before we got back to England to spend that prize-money; for, except the captain and Mr. Buxton and some of the married officers, I know of no one who saved any. Sir Peter, I understood un-derstood afterward, spent much of his in a diamond necklace and tiara for Lady Hawkshaw, in which he was most egregiously cheated by a Portuguese Portu-guese money lender, and the balance he put into a scheme for acclimating elephants in England, which was to make him as rich as Croesus; but he lost 1,000 on the venture, besides his prize-money. In those two years ' I grew more and more fond of Giles Vernon. We generally contrived to have our watch together, and we were intimate as only shipmates could be. He talked much of what he meant to do when he got ashore with money to spend, and assured me he had never had above 20 of his own in his life. In the course of many nights spent in standing watch together, when the old Ajax was sailing like a witch for she was a capital sailer at that time he told me much about his early youth, and I confided to him the story of Betty Green. Giles' career had been the common one of the younger branches of a good family. His father had been a clergyman, and, dying, left several daughters, who married respectably, re-spectably, and this one son, who was put in the sea service very young. At that time several lives stood between Giles and the title and estates of Sir Thomas Vernon, and other lives stood between Giles and Overton; but those had passed away, leaving these two distant kinsmen as heirs to a man that seemed rightfully to have earned his title of "wicked Sir Thomas." I asked Giles if he knew why Sir Thomas, who so cordially hated his heirs, had never married. Giles replied that Sir Thomas showed ho inclination to marry mar-ry until he was near 40. Then his reputation was so well established that he was generally looked askant upon; his character for truth was bad and at cards was worse. But he had induced a lady of rank and wealth to become engaged to be married to him. His treatment of her was so infamous that her whole family had declared war against him, and had succeeded in breaking off several very desirable alliances al-liances he would have liked to make. Of course a man of his rank and wealth could find some woman alas! to take him; but Sir Thomas was bent on money, with an inclination toward to-ward rank, and was tlie last man on earth to marry unless he had a substantial sub-stantial inducement; and several more years had passed without his beins: able to effect the sort of mnrriasrp hr desired. Meanwhile, his health had broken down, and he was now a shattered shat-tered man and prey for the doctors. All this was very interesting to me. especially as Sir Thomas' two heir? would one day have the experience of shooting at each other, and possibly deciding the matter of heirship by the elimination of one or the other fron: the question. We both got promotion, of course and that brought us into the gunroom: but we were as intimate there as In . "v our reefer days in the cockpit. On a glorious October morning in 1799, our anchor kissed the ground in Portsmouth Ports-mouth harbor. k When we reached Portsmouth, the news of our good fortune had pre ceded us, and we were welcomed wit!' open arms by men, women, and children chil-dren especially the women. All the prize-money brought back by any sin gle ship during the war was insig nificant compared with ours. Tin men were seized with a kind of mad ness for spending their money. Th spectacle of an ordinary seaman pa rading the streets of Portsmoutl with a gold-laced hat, a gold-headei stick, and watches and jewelry hunj all over him was common enough, and to -wai' sure to be an Ajax man. Sad ' L I to With Her Were Daphne and the Glorious Glo-rious Lady Arabella. two youngsters could be, with liberty and 2,000 apiece to spend, for I acknowledge ac-knowledge that I had no more thought of saving than Giles. We took a chaise and four to London no stage-coach for us! and reached there in a day. We had planned to take the finest rooms at Mivart's hotel, but fate and Lady Hawkshaw prevented pre-vented me from enjoying them except for the first night of our arrival. Next morning on presenting myself at the admiralty to ask for letters never dreaming I should have any I received re-ceived one from Sir Peter Hawkshaw, which read: "Grand-Nephew. My Lady Hawkshaw desires that you will come and bring your money with you to our house in Berkeley Square, and remain there. "Yours, etc., "P. HAWKSHAW. C. B." Great was my distress when I got this letter, as I foresaw there would not be much chance under Lady Hawkshaw's eagle eye of seeing the kind of life I wished to see. And I was obliged to go, "for Sir Fe&feu .. - the only person on earth likely to interest in-terest himself at the admiralty for me; and I might stay and wither on shore while others more fortunate got ships, if I antagonized him. And when Lady Hawkshaw commanded there was but one thing to do, and that was to obey. So, with a heavy heart, I took myself my-self and my portmanteau and, 'n a I canvas bag, my 2,000 guineas to the admiral's great fine house in Berkeley .Square. My parting with Giles was melancholy enough; for, with the womanish jealousy of a boy, I was unhappy un-happy to think he would be enjoying himself with some one else, while I was suffering the hardship of having my money taken care of for me. Giles had no more forgotten the Lady Arabella than I had, and, on reading this note, exclaimed: "Zounds! I wish Peter and Polly had sent for me to stay in Berkeley Square, with that divine creature under un-der the same roof. Do you think, Dicky, we could exchange identities, so to speak?" But on my reminding him that Lady Hawkshaw had demanded de-manded my prize-money, and woull certainly get it, his ardor to stand in 1 my shoes somewhat abated. I |