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Show Mifi. Py .A. CON AN DOYLti I JtTERNAriONAL PmSfiSSOOATm CHAPTER XIII. (&t (ft- tV II KN fir. Walker cfl, jf,i.'fl departed, the i Jj II Admiral packed all jfju J his possessions back I fcX 1 lt,to nl chest, wafr'IfctltjL """ "-''"pllon ILStf vT-i'Crflr "f "ne little brass- VA-'W b,.und dck. This AyrJ'y he unlocked, slid X07 took from It a dosen yttl psper sll mottled over with stsmps end sesls, with very large V. It 's printed upon the heads of them. He tied these csrefully Into a smsll bundle, snd piscina them In ths Inner pocket of his coat, he seised his slick snd hst. "Oh, John, don't do this rsah thing." cried Mrs. Denver, laying her hands upn his sleeve. "I have seen so little of you. John. Only three years since you left the service. Ilon't leavs me again. I know It la weak of me, hut I cannot bear It." "There's my own hrsvs lass," said he, amoothlng down the grey-shot hair. "We've lived In honor together, mother, and, please Hod, In honor we'll die. No matter how debts are made, they have got to be met, and what ths boy owes we owe. Ite has not the money, snd how Is he to nnd It? lie isn't llnd It. What then? It becomes my business, and there's only one way for It." "Hut It may not lie so very bad. John. Had we not beat wait until after he Bees these people tomorrow?" "They may give him little time, lass. Hut I'll have a care that 1 don't go so fur that I can't put tuck again. Now. mottler, there's no uae-hol.llng me. It's got to be done, and there's no sense In shirking It." He detached hsr lingers from his sleeve, pushed her gently back Into an arm-chair, and hurried from th house. In less thsn half an hour the Admirnl waa whirled Into Victoria Htatlon and found hlmaelf amid a dense bustling throng, who jostled snd pushed In tho crowded terminus. Ills errsnd, which hsd seemed fessthle enough In his own room, began now to present dimeultles In th carrying out, and he pussled over how h should Iske the first steps. Amid the stream of business men, esch hurrying on his di-llnlle wsy, the old seaman In his grey tweed suit and black soft hst strods slowly slung, his head aunk and his brow wrinkled In perplexity. per-plexity. Huddeuly an Idea occurred to him. He walked hack to the railway stall and bought a dully psper. This he turned and turned until a certuln column met tils eye, when he smoothed It out, and carrying It over to a aeat. proceeded to read It at his leisure. And. Indeed, ss a man read thst column. It seemed slrsnge to him that there should still remain any one In thta world of oura who should t In slrslts for want of money. Here were whole lines of gentlemen who were burdened with a surplus In their Incomes, and who were loudly cslling to th poor and needy to com and tak It off their hands. Here wss th guileless person who wss not a profesalonal moneylend-er, moneylend-er, but who would be glad to correspond, corre-spond, etc. Here, too, wss ths accommodating accommo-dating Individual who advanced sums from ten to ten thoussnd pounds without with-out expense, security or delsy. "Th money actually paid over within a few hours." ran this fssclnstlng advertisement, advertise-ment, conjuring up a vision of swift messengers rushing with bsgs of gold to the aid of the poor struggler. A third gentleman did sll business by per-sonsl per-sonsl application, advanced money on anything or nothing: th lightest and slrlest premiss wss enough to content htm according to his etrculsr, and Anally h nvr asked for mor thsn five psr eenL This struck ths Admiral as far ths most promising, and his wrinkles relaxed, and hla frown softened away as hs gssed at It. 11 folded up th paper, ros from ths seat, and found himself fscs to face with Charles Weatmacott. "Hullo, Admiral!" "Hullo, Weatmacott!" Charles had always been a favorlt of th sssman's. "What are you doing her?" "Oh, I bav bn doing a Kill business busi-ness for my aunt. Hut I have never seen you In Liondnn before. "I hat th place. It smothers mi. Thers's not a breath of clean air on this Bids of Ureenwlch. But msyb you know your way about pretty wll In th city?" "Well, I know something about It. Tou see I've never lived very far from It, and I do a good deal of my aunt'B busl-aess. busl-aess. "Maybs you know Bresd Strestf "It Is out of Chespsld." "Well then, how do you steer for It from here? Tou msk me out a eours and I'll keep to It." "Why. Admiral, I have nothing to do. I'll take you ther with pleasure." 'Will you, though? Well, I'd tske It very kindly If you would. I hsvs business busi-ness there. Kmlth A Hsnbury, flnsnclal agents, Ilresd Htreet." The pslr msde their wsy to the riverside, river-side, snd so down ths Thsmes to Ht. Psul's landing a mods of travel which was mtii-h more to ttie Admiral's taste than 'bus or cab. On the way he told his companion his mlaslon snd the causes which led to It. Chsrles West-macott West-macott knew little enoiiKh nf city life mid the ways of huvlneaH, but at leant he had more experience In both than the Admiral, and he made up his mind tint ,to leave htm until the ntutu-r w:ta set l led. "Tht-ae sre the people," suld the Ad-ndnil. Ad-ndnil. twisting' round his paper, und v Intlng to the sdvertinemenl which had "-enied to him the most promMng. "It 1 sounds honest snd above board, does It not? The -r-,,nnl Interview look! If Ihere sere no trickery, and then no one could object to live per cent." I "No. It seems fair enough." "It Is not pleasant to have to go bat 1 In hand borrowing money, bill thfre are times, as you msy nnd befor you sre my sge. Weslmscott, when a Iran must stow away his pride Hill here s ; their number, nnd their piste Is ob the I corner of Hie door." A nsrrosr entrsncs wss flanked on eltber side by a row of brssses, rsnging 1 tipwsrds from the shlphrokers snd the soth-iiors who occupied the ground floors, through a long succession of West Indian sgents, srchltects, survey, ors, snd brokers, to the (Inn of whkh they were In quest. A winding st'tie stslr. well csrpeted and railed at fltt but growing shshhler with every landing, land-ing, brought them psst Innumerable doors until, at lsst, Just under the ground-glsss rooHng. th nsmes af Hmtth A Hanbury wer to be seen pslnted In large white letter across s psnel. with a laconic Invitation to pulh beneath II. following out th suggestion, sugges-tion, the Admiral and his companies found themselves In a dingy apartment, III lit from a couple of glased windows. An Ink-stslned table, littered with pia, papers, snd slmsnaca, sn Anterlcsa cloth sofa, three chairs of varying patterns, pat-terns, and a mu"h-wnrn curpst, constituted con-stituted sll the furniture, save only a very large and obtrusive porcelain spittoon, spit-toon, and a gaudily framed and very somber picture which hung above ths fireplace. Hitting In front of this pic lure, snd storing gloomily st It, as being the only thing he could star at, was s small sulh.w-raccd hoy with a large head, who In the Intervale of hla art studies munched sedately at an apple. "la Mr. Kmlth or Mr. Hanbury InT" asked ths Admiral. "There ain't no auch people," IJ the smsll boy. "Hut you hsve the nsmes on the door." "Ah, that Is the nsme nf the firm, you see. It's only a name. It s Mr. Itvuben Metsxs that you wants." "Well, then. Is hs In?" "No, he's not." "When will he be bsrtt?" "Can t tell, I'm sure. He's gone to I lunch. Homctlmes he takes one hour, nd sometimes two. It'll b two todsy, I I spect, for he said ha waa hungry i afore he went." j "Then I suppose w had better call I again," said the Admiral. "Not a bit." cried Charles. "I know I how in nisnsge these little Imps. He here, you young varmint, here'a a shilling shil-ling for you. Hun off and fetch your masltr. If you don't bring htm hers In Ave minutes I'll clump you on the side of the hesd when you get bsi-k. Bhoo! Best!" He charged at the youth, who boiled from the room and clattered madly down-stslrs. "He ll fetch him." said Charles. "I,et us msk ourselves st home. This sofu does not feel over snd alaiv aafe. It was not meant for fifteen-atone men. Hut this doesn't look quite I he sort of pises where ons would expect to pick up money. "Just what I was thinking." said the Admiral, looking rut-fully about him. "Ah, well! I have heard that the best furnished offices generally belong to the poorest firms. l,et's bop It Is the opposite here. They can't spend much on th msnagement anyhow. That pumpkln-hesdsd boy wss the stair, I suppose. lis. by Jove, that's his voire, and he a got our man, I think!" As hs spok th youth appeared In th doorway with a smsll, brown, drlsd-up drlsd-up Utile chip of a man at his heels. Hs waa clean ahaven and blus-chlnned, with bristling blsck hslr, and keen brown eye which "khon out very brightly from between pouched under-llda under-llda and drooping upper onsa. II advanced, ad-vanced, glancing keenly from one to th other of his visitors, snd slowly rubbing together his thin, blus-vslned hsnds. Ths smsll boy closed th door behind him, and dlrctly vanlshsd. "I am Mr. Reuben Metsxa," said ths moneylender. "Waa It about an ad-vanr ad-vanr you wished to see m?" "Tes." 'Tor you. I presumsT" turning to ChartoB Westmscott. "No, for this genilsmsn." Th monylendr looked surprised. "How much did you deslr?" "I thought of five thousand pounds," ssld th Admiral. "And on what security?" "I am a retired admiral of th Urtt-Ish Urtt-Ish navy. Tou will nnd my nam In the Navy fulst. Thsr la my card. I hav hers my pension papers. 1 get IK&O a yar. I thought that perhaps If you wsr to hold these papers It would bs security enough that I should pay you. Tou could draw my pension, and repay yourselves at th rat, aay, of t',00 a year, taking your Ova psr cent Intsrast as well." "What Interest?" "Five per cent per annum." Mr.Metaxa laughed. "I'er annum!" he esld. "Klve per cent a month." "A month! That would be alxty per cent a year." "Precisely." "Hut that la monstrous." "I don't ssk gentlemen to com to m. They come of their own fre will. Thus ar my terms, and they can tak It or leave It." "Then I shall leave It." Th Admiral Ad-miral rose sngrlly from bis chslr. "Hut one moment, sir. Just sit down and we shall chat the matter over. Yours Is a rattier unuaual caae and w may find some other way of doing what you wleh. Of cournp the security whh-h you ofTer Is no security at all, and no ssne man would advance five thousand lieunles on It." "No security? Why noti sir?" "You nili'lil die tomorrow. You sre not a young num. What age ar you'.'" "Htxty-lhree." Mr. Metima turned over a long column col-umn of llgures. "Here Is sn actuary's table." .-M he. "At your time of 1 1 11, i sveritue cxpeetaiiey of life la only f l-w tlia e.-n in a well-pivsarvai j n ne-. t.i Innninte that I am i r t ,i v. I: ,-i . I n i. '' ' U ,-n. , l.iilrul. It la a ii vlng llf at .' '' . -in I t '-e.l lint f them.. ,v,- V j 'i -ii w!-"n thev grow older they sre I I h ud at It. ai d Irive no chance of I r i .,r pea-e I do not t'llnk a sailor r I tl' a v .,,d one ' ' 1 II tell Sou V.I at. sir." said the Ad- I olral h ,'y -f jou have two pilrs of gl-ves I II undertake to UnorK you out under tiner roim-'e. or I'll race y-oi from here to St. I'.miI'b. snd my friend here will ree fair. I'll let you see whriher I m an old man .ir not." "This Is he-ode the queitlon." said the money. lender with s deprecstnry shrug. "The point Is that If you died to-morrow wntre would t the security Ihent" "I could Insure my life, snd msk the policy over In you." "Your premium for such a sum. If any nrtlee would hsve you. which I very mui h doutit, would come to close on five hundred a year. That would hardly ult your book. "Well. air. what do you Intend to propose?" pro-pose?" aaked th Admiral. "I might, to accommodat you. work It In another way. 1 ahould aend for a medical man. snd hav an opinion upon your llf. Then I might see what could be done." "That Is quit fair. I hav no objection objec-tion to that." "Ther la a very clever doctor In th street here. Proudle Is his nsme. Joha. go snd fetch Ioctor Proudle." TB youth wss dispatched upon his errsnd, whlls Mr. Metsis ssl at hla desk, trimming trim-ming his nails, and shooting nut little comment upon the westher. Presently feet wer heard upon th atalra, the poneylender hurried out, there was a Bound of whispering, and he returned with a large, rat. greasy-looking man, clad In a much worn frock-coat, and a very dllspldsted top hst. "Doctor Proudle, gentlemen." ssld Mr. Metsxa. Th doctor bowed, smiled, whipped off his hat, and produced hla slethoacop from Its Interior with the air of a conjurer con-jurer upon the stage. "Whlrh of these gentlemen sin 1 to eiamlne?" b asked, blinking from on to the other of them. "Ah, It Is you! Only your walstcostl You need not undo your collar. Thank you! A full breath! Thank youl Ninety- nine! Thank you! Now hold youl I lircalh for a moment Oh, dear, dear, what la this I hrnr?" "What Is It then?" asked the Admiral coolly. "Tut! tut! This Is a great pity. Ilavi you had rheumatic fever?" "Never." "You hav had aome serlouB Ulnee? "Never." "Ah. you sre an admiral. Tou havs been abroad, tropic', malaria, ague I , know." "I have never had a day's Illness." "Not to your knowledge; but you havs Inhaled unhealthy air. and It haa left Ita effect. You have an organic, murmurslight mur-murslight but distinct." "Is It dsngerous?" "It might at any time become ao. Tou should not take violent exercla." "oh. Indeed. It would hurl m to run a halt mile?" "It would be very dangerous." "And a mile?" "Would be almost cerlslnly fstal." "Then Ihere Is nothing els th matter?" mat-ter?" "No. Hut If the heart Is weak, then everything Is week, snd th life Is not a sound one." "You see. Admiral." remarked Mr. Metsxa, as the doctor secreted hla slsth-nscop slsth-nscop once more In his hat, "my remarks re-marks were not entirely uncslled for. I am sorry that the doctor's opinion Is not more fsvornhle. but this Is a matter uf business, and certain obvious pre csutlons must lie tsken." "of course. Then ths mstler la at an end." "Well, ws might even now do business. busi-ness. I sm most snxlous to bs of use to you. How long do you think, doctor, that this gentleman will In all probability proba-bility liver' "Well, well, It'a rather s delicate question ques-tion to answer." ssld Mr. Proudl, with a show of embsrrasiment. "Not a bit, air. out with Itl I hav faced death too often to flinch from It now, though I saw II as near m a you are." ' I TO sa CONTIMuen.l |
