Show The Recluse of Fifth Avenue s i STORY FROM THE START From the tho comfortable financial t f situation to which he lie had boon boen r f born Peter American l i of the old schoel and last of his family Is la practically reduced to penury through the tho misfortune of a friend unwisely t f trusted Learning of Brewers Brewer's sul- sul clde tilde which means the i of his last hope Milman t v P a French butler Achille Lutry r. r who speaks no English and Iff Is Isto to replace servant of long longstanding standing By Lutry Milman sends letters to Prof Fleming Bradney Floyd Malet Neeland Neeland Nee Nee- land Barnes men whom the world worM has hils classified as failures once of high position In response the three call on him at his home Atter After dinner each relates the circumstances clr- clr that wrecked their careers careers convinces them that their misfortunes were all due to one one man Paul I CHAPTER IV IVE IVI E I 6 6 6 When midnight was passed and the cur Jur men very comfortably seated I b lK iut ut the fire Neeland Barnes began begani i there was to be no unmasking past In a sense he be was glad here two men whom he had begun despising seemed after all to have at ut considerable figures once Barnes is as s a shrewd Judge of m men men n. n He Hel l fought that the they had spoken only the uth th The big man with the eager r ray ray y eyes was most certainly no nor r rafter fter And as to the other Barnes called ailed his ca case e well now It was r rought to his notice He had sneered tithe sculptors sculptor's odd defense and be be- eved eyed it with most roost men about town a afy arv ary fy ry poor excuse But now he bee be- be e aved ved red absolutely In Floyd Malet's in- in In comparison Neeland ernes world the arnes professional it rather a poor specimen We We now come corne said Milman break- break I ig Lg in on his reflections to the case Mr Neeland Barnes Mr Neeland Barnes groaned In- In ardly Exteriorly he was urbane kid ad gracious Shearing the black sheep he said 1 lesson to all young men How not 11 live ve Mr Barnes said Peter 5 snot not so complex a type as his fel fel- w- w w He aimed at physical at- at rather than intellectual or ar ar- ar- ar achievements And he succeeds succeed- succeed s just as the they did I doubt If there therean Jan 2 an American living who excelled In phases of sport as Mr 1 Barnes lIe He was a man who might have aged sed a blameless life Ute had hall his oney oney lasted There came a time timen n his relatives would not help I id d his horses could not win races 1 nally I Illy ll he Je was accused of some ome trick trick- at Saratoga and found his racing reer seer at an end Since then he has hasen f en i ll ing Insecurely on what his remaining relatives choose to toe toe e e e him Mr lr Ir Milman Barnes said and fere lere was a certain dignity In his bear- bear W I have been almost every sort fool 1901 in my day I have thrown a vay fortunes and gambled and drunk So a madman but I never pulled y dirty tricks on a race track tracIe I as was ways ays out to win and never betted my own oun horses Im I'm not what la jj naught call a reliable man and Ive I've Ivene Ivene jmj ne things Im I'm heartily ashamed of w w. w but I did not do what the Sara Sara- i Iga stewards believed of or me What j did dill they believe Bradney sanded He know ow nothing of ot r racing My ly trainer gave evidence before l em em that I instructed him to dope gentry entry for the Saratoga cup so s' at I might bet on another horse the e was the favorite It did go gothe gothe gothe the post full of and the thee i ie e I was reputed to have bave bet on onn onn onn n at long odds adds I h hid bid ad the trainer me and the be and cause use I 1 was known v j o be In mone- mone JY 0 y mone-y difficulties les I was dist ot of that I blame the steward They Tiey t f. f their duty as they saw t t. t Some Some- idy fixed my trainer and th the jOt tit was as forced out of the racing game same d found I hadn't a friend In the I rId My wife would have believed bell ved e but she was dead I used what f oney e I could get hold of to fl fight ht the but the man or men who Creed ed me had more money I shall ier ver know who It wa was I know said Peter l quiet quiet- t You were were not framed as you Jm irm rm It by any any crooked owner of or 1 None one of them was big bigI I ough ough ugh to pull pun down a man of ot your Tour rt Ft Y ou had traditions and a name Bind Ind you JOu Your downfall came carne beI beuse beuse be- be I use e you ou threw a man from the pier Narragansett into the Atlantic eon ean Do you remember I Yes rYes Yes Barnes said slowly I j think L do There was a woman mixed up i lit Jit it but I forget torget her name now She gas as one of ot those little fluffy flurry blondes brit f at t were fashionable that season Ah I have ave It She was a roof garden star man came up and tried to make a iene ene ne My ly Aunt Sarah Sarab who was most was Vas coming toward us ie e thing would have been most trous rous because I had turned over aw n a J w leaf the previous evening and a n II was to be added to her will the man struck at me me d I thought the simplest way out of wo was S t t t- i drop him In the sea sen Aunt rah ah being sighted short-sighted did not noten noten en n set se him disappear Mr Barnes sed isea cu on the thing for a few moments I lost extraordinary I never saw hl him ale In There was as no summons c no nothing I was a bit un un- t Jl Osy sy at nUt lest he should have been but hut somebody I i t crawl J it By WYNDHAM MARTYN In tb the United state W N U Service ashore I never knew his name and andI I never saw tho blonde again The man you threw Into the water was the man who arranged matters so that you ou should be compelled to give I up racing There was a trace of triumph in Mr Milman's manner You will never be bc able to prove provo It eo so dont don't tr try And I hoped he didn't drown said Barnes ln 1001 looking about for sympathy his name Barnes did not doubt his hosts host's sincerity for tor a mo ma- went ment All In good time said Milman first let me show you his photograph He unlocked a drawer and took the picture from an envelope Is uIs Is that he her As I remember It yes said Barnes but Its It's years ears ago and there might be a possibility of error Milman passed the photograph to Flo Floyd d Malet Do uDo him you jou ou recognize There was excitement In the tho sculptors sculptor's tors tor's voice Its uIt's the man with theA the theA if 1 I r Sv SvA A Few Hundred Spent In Bribery fur coat who came to my studio that night This Is the man man Ill I'll swear What's his name That is the man to whom you allowe all allowe owe your misfortunes Paul misfortunes Paul It was a thin narrow face that stared back at them but It was not the face of a fool Few men without the earl early advantage of financial trainIng trainIng training train- train Ing had Impressed themselves on Wall wan WallStreet WallStreet Street as he had done The collapse of ot International Motors and the failure failure failure fail fail- ure of ot the Hazen Brewer Biewer crowd to break him made for the moment moment moment mo mo- ment the most spectacular figure In New York And et of yet none Milman's guests had ever before seen a photograph photograph photo photo- graph of him He had a knack of outwitting outwitting outwitting out out- witting the newspaper photographers He had smashed man many cameras cameras It had come to be understood that to attempt attempt attempt at at- tempt to photograph him was to Incur incur In in- cur the enmity of ot a man who never for forgave ave or forgot That he broke Professor Br Bradney was a precautionary measure and not born of any personal malice No doubt his subordinates had found the professor pro fessor lessor was not rich and ond supposed him ripe for tor the fall There Is hardly a doubt that he has made enormous amounts by these methods always covering himself with hopelessly compromised com compromised com com- promised lesser men who dated dared sa say nothing As to Mr 1 Malet that was merely bad luck and not in the first design I dont don't suppose had harl harlan an anything personal against him but he recognized the opportunity to escape from a troublesome position The only purely personal spite was In the case of Mr Noel Neeland and Barnes was Intending to buy a big house at Narragansett Narragansett Narragansett Nar- Nar and entertain u el I dont don't remember the there said Barnes He left the pier Milman an an- is IR curiously send sensitive tive to ridicule lie He could not remain to be pointed out as the man Neeland Barnes had contemptuously tossed Into the ocean It took him several years to get his revenge but it was a u complete one lie boasts that he never ne lets up and ascribes Indian ancestry ancestry ancestry an an- to this quality His Ills most spectacular hatred was that m my poor friend Hazen Brewer Incurred Z T Z T Z Y Z T Z Y Z Y Z Y Z Y Y Z T T T Y Brewer Brener committed because he ho had plunged Into penury a man who was near and dear to him This was a 11 man unused to finance wh i trusted Brewer with his fortune and mortgaged his home lome In a vain effort to savo his friend Brewer felt dis dis- graced I think this emotion was fa famore faymore fay far more potent than the tho fact of his financial finan finan- cial collapse lie He did not know that his friend harbored no hard thoughts of ot him and would have made no com com- plaints After all the friends friend's loss was very little UWe compared with his downfall Fleming Bradney perhaps the closest clos closest est observer of Milman's guests was becoming possessed with a vast impatience Impatience Impatience Im Im- patience to know for what reason he had been summoned Bradney had the anal analytical mind of ot the scientist There were several severa things In Milman's narrative narrative narrative nar nar- which needed elucidation Why he asked suddenly did Id you subscribe to a press-clipping press agency and put a detective on track Because I had learned through a source entirely confidential that It was who had lied ruined Mr Malet 1 Iwas I Iwas Iwas was interested in Mr Malet I think that marble group proves it And I 1 have said I was Interested In your work too r If It had been possible to clear you I should lII like e to have done so I am not sure there was not something something something some some- thing of childish vanity in it It I liked to sit here In my unvisited house and feel I was learning day by day hour by hour more about a man who believed himself above the law lawand lawand lawand and building up this knowledge Into a weapon against him But I found he was so secure as to be able to boast of things that no legal evidence could charge him with Neeland Barnes for example A few hundreds spent In bribery or a few promises dropped as to future patronage and the thing was accomplished All you have done said Bradney who was suddenly assailed with doubts as to Milman's ultimate purpose purpose purpose pur pur- pose Is to get us here and show us what failures we are That Is not kind unless you have a remedy Dont Don't you see see It puts us In a very poor light A man may fall and still sUll have self self- respect left I decline to consider myself myself myself my my- self a black sheep You tell me ruined my career I shall make n 1 point of seeing the editors of ot all the great New Nev York papers and telling them what you ou have said Too long a certain type of man has ruled our cities In the name of democracy There was no doubt now about Peter Peter Peter Pe Pe- ter Milman's uneasiness as he listened I thought you ou understood he sald said quietly that this conversation was privileged If you ou go to your editors you ou will do two things One will b bato be ba beto to convince them that you have haye brooded brood brood- ed so long on your troubles that you are mad rand The other will be to disclose disclose disclose dis dis- close the confidences a dead man gave me But you want me to give up th the only chance I may ever eyer have hate of clearIng clearing clear clear- Ing my name Bradney complained You can never clear It that wa way I dont don't think you vou ou can ever eyer hope to defeat Paul that way His Hii tone changed a little Tell me this Mr 1 Bradney Which counts more with you the clearing dealing of your name of suspicion of dishonesty not dishonesty not not actual conviction of It remember for your case never neer came before a court of ot 1 law law or or the opportunity to devote your our life to your chosen science The latter of course Bradney I cried It Is only If It I establish m my Innocence that I can hope to get another another an an- other appointment Such work as mine costly I must have bate large funds at my disposal and elaborate equipment And you ou Milman said turning to the sculptor I Ithe If enough mud Is thrown at a man no matter how Innocent he Is some of ot It will stick I have long since abandoned abandoned abandoned aban aban- I nn any hope of being whitewashed I In a sense the equipment of the sculptor sculptor 1 tor is expensive If I were a painter It would be a different thing There Is no Institution to endow broken middle aged men It Is for that reason I asked you all to tu here l answered You dont don't understand Gentlemen I am a broken brolien middle aged man In Hazen Brewers Brewer's failure m my entire fortune for foi- tune went I 1 mortgaged this house to help him Out of the wreck 1 I ma may save enough to live In a couple of humble rooms for the rest of ot my life I We are all In the same boat all four of us victims to Paul whims You Neeland Barnes crIed You had all sorts of money I thought TO 10 BE CONTINUED sZ T Y T T T y Z y y y |