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Wf CfiwOEM! Of
Addmgtosa Peace
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The Story of Amaroff The Pole
artistic stulv in Paris;
ilcn groups redolent of
. 1 1 ii ir . ..
'v"l)l .,1-1 is " unite inv Uncle."
lut I call you a silly young
fool."
I remembered tin- sentence ninl t ic
reading of it w U enou; h, though time
has not Mood i ile since that Scptem
Ix r evening of the year S'.V2. From
Hie point of view of Hradford, my
uncle might he right; hut what did
he know, I argued, of the higher ideal
which I hud chosen preferring the de
velopment of my artistic sense 1o the
mere aecumuhil ion of money that I
could not spend? Where was his joy
of life he who spent his days in the
whirr of wheels and the fog of many
chimneys? How could it compare wilh
mine in the acicnt peace of the eight
leenlh century house that lay un
der the towers that crowned the an
cient, alihey at Westminster? I looked
around me at the delicate tapestries
that. I hail brought from Florence
to my London rooms; at the glowing
Fr.'i.'Minards souvenirs of my year of
at the Dres
old Saxony.
Was I the fool or inv uncle (Jeorge?
There seemed to me no doubt about it.
It was plainly uncle (icorgc.
Yet the letter had unsettled inc. I
opened the swing doors tliat led to my
studio, switched on the light, and
(stepped from easel to easel, examin
ing my half-fini.-hed work with a grow
ing dissatisfaction. Were they indeed
merely the daubs of a wealthy ama
teur? I loitered back to my sitting
room in a sulky depression, and had
picked up an art paper, when there
came a tapping at the door, ami the
grizzled head of old Jacob Hendry
came peering in. A perfect servant
was old Hendry, once sergeant of in
fantry, and now a combination of
cook, valet, and housemaid, who kept
my rooms in spotless order, grilled a
steak to a turn, was a fair hand with a
needle, and spent his spare time in
producing the most inartistic wood
carving 1 have ev r seen.
"Well, and what is it?" I i. 1.' .' hint;
for he seemed in some he; it at i n.
''1 beg your pardon. Mr. I I illips,
sir," he said, '"but- there's a young
man would like to see you. A imt
respectable young man, sir, as lodges
above us on the third floor, but "
"(!o on, Jacob, go on."
"The fact is, sir, he's from the
Yard."
"The Yard! What Yard?"
"Scotland Yard, sir, where the de
tectives come from."
and take a
With Extraordinary Rapidity Took An Impression of a Key
And where I wish to Heaven they
would remain, thought I.
This intrusion was simply insuffer
able. I had a mind to refuse the man
admittance.
"'Is boots is quite clean," said
Jacob, entirely mistaking my hesi
tation. "'E 'as wiped 'cm on the inut.
I saw 'iin."
"Oh, show him in."
"The person, sir, of the name of In
spector Peace," said Hendry, swinging
open the door.
He was a tiny slip of a fellow, of
about five and thirty years of age.
A stubble of brown hair, a hard, clean
shaven mouth, and a confident chin
such was my impression. He took one
quick look at me, and then waited,
with his eyes on the carpet and his
head a trifle tilted over the right
shoulder.
"I fear that 1 have taken a great
liberty, Mr. Phillips," he said, in a
very smooth and civil manner. "Hut
I had an idea that you would help
me, and time was of importance."
"Well, and what is it?"
"You have many friends amongst
the foreign artists lure in London.
You attend thtir concerts anil some
times even their lit lie dances. We
are near neighbors, you see," he con
cluded, with a slight bow, tlu.t was at
once an apology and an explanation.
"I am flattered by the interest you
have taken in my movements."
"Two hours ago," he continued
cheerfully, "a body was found in a
passage off Lcman street, Stepney a
body which we cannot identify. The
man was of good position, a sculptor,
and, I believe, a Pole. A cab is wait
ing at the door. It is late, I know,
Mr. Phillips; it cannot fail to be a
great personal inconvenience; but will
you drive down with me
look at hiin?"
"Certainly not."
He saw that 1 considered his pro
posal an impertinence, for he hesi
tated a moment, regarding me with an
air of depression.
"It has stopped raining," he said,
"ami the cab has most comfort ubli
cushions. I noticed a fur coat in tin
hall which can be slipped on in a mo
ment. May 1 fetch it for you?"
"Yon merely waste time, Mr. Peace,''
1 told him, "1 will have nothing t
do with an affair in which 1 am nowise
concerned."
"This sculptor may be an acquain
tance of your own," he said gravely;
"and while we are arguing his mur
derers inav escape."
"Murderers?"
"Yes, sir; murderers! The man has
been strangled and robbed."
The position was most embarrass
ing, lie asked me to go into a part
of Loudon that I had always carcfull
avoided. It was sufficient to know
that filth, immorality, ami crime exist
without personally inspect ing t he muck
heal). Yet there he stood, his head oi.
one side, staring at my toes like ai
inquisitive terrier, and my arguments
faded before his stolidity.
Hendry ever let him in?
certainly speak to the
about his
"Well, Mr. Phillips."
"If I agree to go, will you see to it
that I tun not again troubled in this
matter?" 1 answered sulkily enough.
"For I will not be a witness or a jury
man or anything like thai, you under
Bland?" "Certainly. I will see that you an
not further molested."
"Then, in the name of common
sense, let us get it over as quickly at
possible," I said, kicking off my sli
pers and ringing the bill for my boots-
l'ig Hen was striking eleven as oui
hansom trotted down the long Em
bankment with its lights winking on the
rushing tide below. Past the great
restaurants of pleasure, glowing with
shaded lamps from the windows of all
their balconies; into the silent city
where the tall offices of I he day laj
like deserted palaces under the moon:
over macadam, over clattering as
phalt, over greasy wood pavement; so
wc journeyed till of a sudden w
dropped from wealth to destitution,
from solitude to babble, from the West
to the East. Costers bawling then
wares under spouting f lures, frinred
the sidewalks along which j'.stled the
Why had
I should
old rascal
r,
4
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