Show the man who remembered 11 11 narratives of the remarkable exploits of barton cortice BY FREDERIC RED DALE reincarnated hero of strange author of john adventures dare american as related journalist by the heir of theames the ages etc F T THE TREASURE OF KING i JOHN OHN coper fht 1909 by W G chapman coper foht in great br ta n barton cortice a young new england er r of scotch ibish descent gifted with an altogether uncommon mental ty possesses the unusual and uncanny power of viv adly recalling recollections of I 1 s ego passed in former reincarnations centuries apart in eluding many strange adventures by flood and field some of them connected with long forgotten treasure hoards concern ng which by lirtie of h a weird gift he Is able to instance definite dates and exact localities at the beginning of these con necked i arra narratives tives cortice cordes happens to be stranded in london practically penniless although he has potentially millions in eight he is reaching out tor for a man of means and integrity who will evince sum clent faith in his queer story to advance the necessary capital tor for a critical and actual test such an angel turns up in the pel son of westbury wayne marquis of bc he arsdale a young peer of great wealth and passionately fond of bizarre undertakings retta cortice barton s sis ter a surpass surpassingly beautiful girl who ix 1 dependent upon lim believes in ler 1 er brother to the uttermost having commit ted to writing certain stories which fall from his lips during his trance obsessions the first adventure deals with the long in lost treasure of king john telling I 1 ow it t was identified and ultimately recovered 1 E WEKE WERE snugly en in on one of those queer little ma W bogany boxes in the if ml I 1 ter tavern fleet street london the roar of the busiest thoroughfare in id the english metropolis coming dully to our ears like the sub bass of the organ in the temple church hard by young westburg wayne and I 1 plain john dare at j 3 our ser vice for although he Is an english lord by courtesy and a marquis of scotland in the proudest peerage of the old world his ancestry dating back to the bruce and beyond a more democratic and altogether companionable youngster I 1 have nev er known the old miter celebrated haunt of johnson goldsmith reynolds and sheridan is not exactly the tue spot where one would expect a modern ro mance to start and yet that is what happened one foggy november after noon moon right under our noses the miter tavern is famous among other things too numerous to men lion tion for its filet de sole a and id its 72 sherry these we had discussed and by way of luncheon the pressmen of bouverie street and fet ter lane having departed we had the place to ourselves foi the cigars and coffee I 1 was in london tor for my paper the boston mercury wayne as he in aisted on being called because he had nothing else to do at the moment detesting the englishman s winter fox hunting and steeple chas ing and going in tor for bigger game by virtue of certain coal veins dis covered under the ancestral acres lord wayne had more thousands pounds mind you a year than he could spend even though he kept a fine steam yacht in commission the year round and financed at least one theater and a light ligh opera company he was an orphan and a bachelor ac countable to no man or woman ev ever er ready for whatever i 1 rom sed excitement an eton boy and an ox ford man an old blue well mus cled broad shouldered like his saxon and danish ancestors and alt ogeth er a clean cut hard hitting upright and domn downright right lad after my own or any woman s heart in tact fact as I 1 often told I 1 im lm he was wasted in his present environment but wl flats at s a fellow to do doa he would counter my 1 interests are here and I 1 cant can t chuck the game you know so I 1 take a flyer here and alere tl ere as occasion offers some day when miss wright comes to town ill marry settle down and raibe a family this with a cheerfully op ti grin on this particular gloomy london afternoon we were sipping our cot cof fee when wayne remarked apropos of nothing great fellow that kipling I 1 nodded just been reading some of his tales one in particular took my fancy that which he calls the fin est st story in the world again gain I 1 nodded understandingly splendid chance gone to pot tl tf ere said wayne why didn dian t he make the fellow actually remember a few things that could have havi been turned to account 9 of course I 1 im in no at aishor thor he went m ent on with the un affected modesty of your true eng lishman although he had been i double arst in the house at ox ford but it strikes me that kip ling missed a cl ance for instance 9 I 1 inquired well tl ere ni ere difficulties in the may ay of course but if his city clerk he pronounced it dark clark could remember so much about his ous existences in those greek or ro n an galleys why couldn coulden t he have gone further and told us something worth orth knowing something 11 i tactical 7 9 oh I 1 s appose that was the art of the it eting ing I 1 ventured kemem ber it was only a gue guess s anyway be ides one on p ore el e had worked the ie e n dd pid voi oi never read b ra i th I 1 lo 10 I l 0 it an 9 bi A h abc yes and there was another good idea luea gone to waste why dian didn t the fellow recall something that we ot of today to day could test if there theres s anything tn in this reincarnation business some one ought to be able to prove it I 1 can prove it gentlemen the interruption came from a tall rather gaint ga int figure apparently drung from nowhere though as ovens proved he had come from no further than the next box to ours the devil you can wayne it if that s the case you ve got the door floor have a cigar sit down what 11 you have to drink lord wayne had been in america you 11 understand A cigar a chair and some coffee it if you 11 permit me to loin join you said the stranger with perfect ease and courtesy wine I 1 never touch we both looked at the newcomer with interest as be he pulled a windsor chair to the head of the table he was tall almost emaciated clean shaven unmistakably an american with the strangest eyes I 1 had ever seen one blue one gray and and not more than 28 or 30 years old I 1 help oNer overhearing hearing your conversation the stranger explained nodding his head toward the adjoin ing box to ours and I 1 agree with every word you said this to wayne personally glad to hear it said the latter affably but what would vv you say to a man who could not only actually recall many details of his former exist ances but who could also give you convincing proofs that he spoke the truth well it if you ask me he said deliberately removing hs double eye glasses and wiping them on a ten dollar silk handkerchief I 1 should b say you were the man an brother w anere e re lookin for only you 11 have to t show how me this with a grin for the phrase was one he had learned in a recent trip to the ozarks that s all I 1 desire said the new cuin comer er a chance to prove what I 1 I 1 claim and it s right here in eng land landl I 1 am an american like your you relt elf he waved his cigar toward in me e born in new england educated at Y yale ile my father was a Con grega dional minister my ancestors came from this side scotch and irish my great great grandmother was burred for a witch by cotton mather vather curse him but that s neither here nor there except to show you per haps that we me cortices my names name s barton cortice are rather a queer lot I 1 couldn coulden t help overhear ing 3 0 ir talk about recollections of previous existences from my earliest recollections I 1 have been able to recall certain vivid pictures of what I 1 am compelled to regard as authentic recollections ot of ny own previous existences playing many parts I 1 take it that you sir possess a receptive mind toward g ich phenomena 9 this last to Sc ardale who nodded 0 lo 10 0 very few have I 1 spoken con berning these things my father would mould have thought them thera impious aly sister understands me gentlemen I 1 am a poor man a pau per and yet I 1 I 1 av an e that knowledge within me which will make me rich and also tl ti oe who ho believe that I 1 speak the truth Alba whatever teNer vou iou ay here said wayne with the infinite courtesy of the highborn high born briton goes no fur ther cortice bowed I 1 expected no less he ans answered I 1 ask no more I 1 will not bore you with an ment tor for or against the theory of re incarnation said cortice ably you are both familiar with the literature of the subject un do here and there men and a few women exist who can remember and describe their experiences in these previous soul births I 1 am such a man at times not always I 1 am able to project myself into the past add in d recall certain episodes many of these are connected nith deposits or secret records of great m wealth treasure jewels and what not con coming the fate of which men nien have wondered and yet I 1 am to day a poor man if what you say is true and will stand tie ta e test said wayne what you need is a backer why man alive a syndicate could grow fat off you debeers de beers and industrials would be child childs s any comparatively iou lou ire right my lord and yet you are the first man who ever saw tl it e matter in that light said cor tice his manner as quiet and as calm as it if he had been talking of or steel preferred I 1 in m interested said wayno wayne go ahead perhaps you gentlemen will step across to my rooms just over the way in grays inn inquired cor tice tet tentatively tat ively we can talk much more freely there and I 1 wish you to iret my bister sister so the sister nas a in london 1 thought and wondered mon dered if she would present as unique a personality as the brother we crossed muddy fleet street in the yellow fog passed through the stone archway our guide leading the way to a suite of apart ments in one of the hoary old build ings formerly given over entirely to lawyers but latterly rented to any body of studious or quiet tastes still I 1 could not help thinking it was a queer place tor for a lady to live however one learns to be aston dished at nothing in london miss cor tice came forward as we entered the sitting room a tall dark haired girl of almost regal beauty introduce Intro duc eions followed and it was easy to see that wayne mas as visibly impressed by her indeed as retta cortice and the young marquis stood facing each other I 1 could not for bear thinking what a splendid pair they made these gentlemen said barton cortice addressing the girl have promised to listen to my strange story then turning to wayne mayne he explained my sister Is an imbor tant factor for she takes down all tl at I 1 say or reveal at those periods when the fit of recollection Is upon me wayne bowed to miss cortice with a very winning smile designed koput to put the girl completely at her ease may I 1 ask a simple question 7 eaid said he go as far as you like assented cortice I X welcome the closest ecru tiny wayne bowed again my query Is 1 this are we to infer that these er recollections of yours are are revealed only at certain times when you are in n a species of trance john nicknamed lackland fright fully misgoverned the english realm when the news came that richard had escaped and sailed calais john took flight packed up all the valuables he could seize here in lon don and decamped for the north it had been predicted by an old sooth sayer that john lackland should die in a litter which very nearly came true during his disgraceful flight when the kingly cortege came to the crossing of the wash a wide arm of the sea there was haste bungling and disorder in the hurry and con fusion most of the king kings s followers were drowned and the baggage train was engulfed in the waters of the north sea john dashed on ahead and took refuge tor for the night it in swineshead Swine shead abbey his fury and chagrin at his loss were such that he feel into a grievous fever from which he nearly died though some accounts say that his sickness was caused by a gluttonous indulgence in peaches and beer barton curtice paused at this point I 1 noticed that wayne had pricked up his ears at the mention of ewines head abbey that s the accepted history I 1 believe he commented exactly nodded cortice the biographers and chroniclers are all agreed that the vast treasure was lost perhaps they took the fact for granted because the money and jew els were mere never found but what really happened was this the treasure chest was actually saved though probably a different account was given to king john and was buried under one of the lady chapels in swineshead Swine shead abbey I 1 know this was done because I 1 was there and helped to plant it N arzi ve to it VO fact ke Q ar A V CX 4 1 I aco ta t e b of le that s about it said cortice though noc not always alwa s and I 1 t then call the condition one of trance what do you s say siy iy retta thus brought into t e conversa tio tion HISS miss cortice took up the ex speaking in a vibrant and lo 10 pitched contralto perhaps the term waking reverie would mould beat bet describe what happens she answered bart sits with his eyes open staring into vacancy and talks of the wonderful things he remembers As he speaks I 1 write down the words then he mal wales es up or resumes his normal mamer manner and wants mants to know it if hes been dreaming again sometimes I 1 can make nel net ther head nor tail of what he says but at others he gai gues es me cold ahli ers the scenes are so realistic there s no hocus no ranika boo about it gentlemen said cor tice of that I 1 want mant you to be as sired s ired no apology or further explanation is necessary mr cortice said wayne the testimony of your sis ter is sufficient clent the powers you possess are certainly extraordinary bit b it not less credible on that score I 1 thank you my lord answered barton and I 1 believe I 1 can justify your generous confidence conf dence may I 1 do so by offering you a test case caseb by all means said westbury alayne ayne while they were mere speaking retta cortice went to an old escritoire that would have del gated the heart of a collector and brought forth a flat leather portfolio which she placed before her brother there are halt half a dozen almost un believable barrat ves written down here he said tapping the writing case some of which would take us halt half way around the world but III begin nearer home right herein here in eng land because you can the more SAS ily lest test the truth or the fallacy of my claims you are doubtless familiar with english history cortice began and will remember how king richard lionheart went to the crusades on his way home he was seized imps boned and held tor for ransom by a little tinlot tinpot tin pot swashbuckling austrian noble n richard s absence his brother most extraordinary really ex claimed the marquis visibly fin pressed for myself the yarn seemed too wildly improbable for any use and yet I 1 repeat I 1 was there 1 9 said cor tice quietly probably as one of the menata men at arms tor for I 1 can see myself m wearing earing the dress and accoutrements peculiar to a soldier of that period I 1 believe I 1 could lead you to the very spot where the chest was b tried you youve ve ne neer never ver visited the locality I 1 take it mr air cortice inquired the marquis not yet was the reply the quest would have to be undertaken nery quietly it might be necessary to purchase the land and that of course takes large capital I 1 believe there are some ruins of the old church still extant corn com wayne but otherwise swineshead Swine shead abbey is merely a name then cortice went on there are some peculiar pecullar statutes in this country of yours respecting buried treasure I 1 believe the crown usually claims a large part in this case see ing the stuff originally belonged to royalty the government might step in and gobble it all ot |