| Show I 1 A how erow a case of presumption finally ended i british consulate yes str take the first to the lefts left and the third to the right and go on till you yoli come to a drunken sailor the british consulate 11 I 1 am told that the above direct direction ion was once actually given and really the threshold of H U 11 B als a consul is often marked with human wreckage one 0 0 bright may morning at st gumbo sir martin behan accompanied by his bis pretty daughter sybil found this official in conversation with a case of bf distress which had not been asked into his private p r avate room they drew back and overheard this conversation 1 lave you been to the st georget george t soc society oci ety I 1 yes and they do not believe my cay story I 1 5 well it is rather suppose nolar now somebody else had told it to you byj would you believe it I 1 X t i A year ago I 1 would nat said the man f anely franl r dy no well setup set up scarecrow would have changed clothes with him and there was just a hope thit that his emaciated condition was due to t starvation and not to fever so you can do nothing for me be asked 4 it is the hardest peat part of my days work to answer such questions the consul replied officially I 1 must muot no not privately I 1 ah sir martini martin back agilia so BO soon come in the cast case of dl distress L stepped aside and the door ca 0 against him tired of florida already J no I 1 should have liked to spend another fortnight there and sybil was 9 3 delighted with the glimpse she got of the everglades but I 1 received a bert yram grain which calls me home without 6 lay have you any letters for us ua D the bell was sounded and a ready clerk appeared with their mail some of it for the baronet more for b lias Is daughter and a lot of newspapers fr for both can we catch Wednes wednesday dayd steamer hardly have you wired for berths 11 ord nothel not yet yeL ill do sa so I 1 or you at once all athe the boats are very full at this season which do you ou prefer cunard imite t star inman anything first and fastest said sir martin sybil is a good sail or and can rough it waa S the answer came that there theres chance for wednesday as the passengers could not reach new borklin klin ain 1 I t ta ar of of f Paris ayi 1 which w was as to td sail on saturday a at 1115 a in I 1 sir martin and his daughter were in mourning for a distant relative from whom they had great expectations un til she died her was then a hitch came the question was one of survivorship and you would not care for the legal points on which it arose shortly it came to this the widow of singleton behan died of old age on the ad of february 1888 leaving the bulk of her property to the oldest or only son of my once dear friend clara wife of capt maurice vining who may be living at the time of my death and his heirs etc as par part t reparation for a wrong I 1 did his mother the remainder man inan or next in order was my cousin sir martin I 1 behan his hia heirs administrators executors and assigns capt vining died many years ago his widow married r ed again and had one son who sailed from madeira on the 2 oth of january 1888 and his ship the SS magnolia was lost at sea on the ad of february did he dai diali before the testatrix or did she die first all depended on that the old lady passed away so quietly that opinions differed as to exactly at what moment life became extinct it might have been at any time between halt half past nine and eleven a sa in As nothing could be done for her no doctor was claras sons ship was seen on her learn beam ends about to founder at seven fifteen a m in such a storm that nothing could be done to save those on board might he strong swimmer as aa he was known to be hold out for three hours and forty five minutes in that raging racing sea if he be did it if he ha outlived his benefactress for any fraction of time the abe estates were his and would I 1 go to his heirs if he died first then thea sir martin came in the city of paris made a pleasant and speedy trip and sybil an agreeable acquaintance in the person of a strikingly handsome man who sat next to her ber at table and was very attentive all day his name on the passenger list was hugh do de mauriac Mauri ac 1 I dont like the fellow growled sir martin ive seen his face before somewhere one reason for this dislike was that sybil seemed to 1 like ike him very much and all the father was u up p in arms against a possible adventurer weve met before he said gruffly one day where was it atthe at the british consulate st si gumbo I 1 was in a bad fix then I 1 sir martin turned away with an indignant snort and found his daughter 1 I knew he said the fellow is in impo sterl he is that dirty tramp we saw at consul Foun fountains Founta inea door b begging eg gi n ho how w c could 0 u 1 d h he e pet get the money t to 0 p pay a y for a f first ir s t class c la s s passage and glod bood clothes and cigars and wine stole it of course de Al auriac indeed just the sort of name such a rascal would take oh papa he might have found some nome friends pell fellows vs who go begging to con bulatek and st georges societies have friends how dare he speak to youl you you must out cut him dead from this moment that rl t v would be unkind perhaps ps unjust sybil replied sadly we shall be at queenstown Queens town tomorrow to morrow please dear papa do not make mo me hurt his fee feeling lingi 3 I 1 will avoid him as much as possible remember that whatever he may be now he was evidently once a gentleman ill save you any qualms about it said her father dec decisively iri ively and he kept his word there was wai wa i a storm that day in sit martins martias cabin after abi chih h mr de ll auriac changed his place at the table and sybil lost her appetite Her father had an uneasy feeling that ho did not get quite the best 0 of f it and was heard hear d to say that of all the cool insolent scoundrels he had ever encountered the follow fellow who called himself de maurice was the worst he was not pleased to find on landing at liverpool that the case officially entitled untitled an titled lathe in the matter of the goods of sophia behan deceased had been commenced that very day and the consolation offe redby his solicitor to the effect that he could not be ba of any assistance made him very augu angry he got into a temper with the customs officers and this did not expedit e the passing of his luggage buggag ge he became furious when that scoundrel as he accustomed himself i to call de maurine Mauri ac passed and lifted his hat to sybil who stood behind her father in the agony which daughters feel when they see bee the authors of their being making fools of themselves in public these delays cost him his train tho last for that day and the morrow was sunday 1 As the fatal toolate too late sir was sp spoken olien and the carriage rolled by he caught a glimpse of that scoundrel seated in a first class corner and chatting pleasantly with could his eyes deceive him the heir of a marquis and one ona of 0 tho the most fastidious men in london ton donl I 1 in the meantime the behan will case two on a whole row of juniors representing the various interests affected had its first day dav in court and a rare tilting of wits its was displayed the actual plaintiff was the lady named us as clara Cl arft the wife of capt maurice vining who claimed as heir and next ot of kin to her shipwrecked son the actual do defendant was sir martin it suited one on sure to 10 expedite tue me teria trix and prolong the other ufa life th the le opposition fought hard to show that the former lived for several hours after half past nine and that the tha latter was sucked down with his hi filip and drowned instanter all this trouble was caused by th the words living 1 at the time of my death tho the conse ces cea of which the old lady had not foreseen foret her intention was to benefit t mrs vining through tome fame on of sf av children fearing perhaps that a direct gift would not be welcome on account of their quarrel and now if the p presumptions re relied upon on behalf of sir martin should prevail she would gat nothing but tho the will had to speak for itself As the case proceeded tho th difference of time between the final sinking of the shir ship and the actual da mise of the testatrix was reduced aa cording to the balance of evi evidence denea to half an hour and at the rising of the court the tha judge suggested a compra mise you will have all to storrow zo f said to think about it As soon as the sunday brawler lana e cd d sir M martin rt I 1 in london he left SY sybil bil in charge of their impedimenta and rushed to tho the private of bi his solicitor compromise ridiculously he blustered the board of trade report is i official dodou do you understand me sir official you should have protested any ship sank ra seven 0 thon then for the first time he learned the name of his opponent in the cause which in their correspondence had been always entitled ire re behan or Behan sWilL it was the tha same as that at a c bore de by the lordt he exclaimed I 1 this itkis may be another tichborne case but ill sight fight it to the tha bitter end the bitter end came on monday morning when mrs de BL auriac appeared in court no longer as before in deep mourning and accompanied by a gentleman who was immediately put in into to t tha he witness box his story had the hallmarks hall marks of truth all over it he was hugh de dauriac mauriac M auriac ac when the SS magnolia was settling down he seized the first thing at hand a he hencoop and jumped overboard with it he was picked up the next day but one by a norwegian bark bound for buenos ayres there he was laid up with fever for six weeks thence he worked his passage as a coal trimmer temer to rio and thence to st gumbo having failed to obtain tiny any assistance therl there not even a chance to shovel coal he felt himself beaten at last but as he h left the consulate homeless hopeless penniless not knowing which way ay turn and starve he ran against a friend a man to whom he had once done a good turn and who remembered it thanks Thank sto to him he was able to reappear as a yentle nian an and return to his hia home why had he not written to hit his mother oth from any of the places ho he had mentioned ile he did ile he wrote h her r five let letters in all but as hard in luck e would have it she went abroad on hearing of his supposed death and left no address by this tinis time all presumptions were upset and the question became ne of identity sir maitina ilai Mai tins Q Cs made a gallant fight but had to give in the he dead letter office the rali mis correspondence to life A dozen anim peaceable nesses recognized dear old hugh and poor sophy behan had bad her will in every sense of the word ord 7 there had been a romance in her life but bat that is another story you will therefore be surprised to hear that after all the case was compromised and this was done in such a manner that the heirs of sir martin behan became also the heirs of hugh da Al Mauri auriac ac simply because sybil was their mother albany de da Fou blanque la in black and white |
