frH-frH * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
*
*
TEEE f
CURIOUS CASE
*
oir *
WILLIAM GULLY
umy safely be Inid flown that
HT - millionaire dies # here
usually morajnterost taken in the
subsequent fate of his property than
sorrow felt for .the loss of its late own
er. Millionaires die so seldom , for ob
vious reasons , that this statement maj
perhai > s be taken MS it stands without
further argument
Mr. William Gully was no exception
to the rule. Having spent the greater
. * part of his life in amassing 11101103 % and
having never spared any time for the
cultivation of the domestic affections ,
It is not surprising that his family
hardly mourned him beyond dropping
the conventional tear on his oaken cof
fin. His vast fortune had been rapidlj"
built up by the immense popularity of
the penny weekly newspaper of which
Mr. Gully had for years been the pub
lisher a.ud owner.
The millionaire never made anj-
friends , and when he retired , at the
age of sixty , from taking an active part
in the business , he settled down almost
Into the life of a recluse ! " His one di
version was the study of Eastern phil
osophy and occult science , in which
subjects he took a very deep interest.
In the pursuit of this hobby he was
assisted and encouraged by his pri
vate secretary , a half-caste native of
India. This man went by the name of
Stavely Hunt , and was a peculiar per
sonage. His general appearance sug
gested that of a tj'pical temperance
lecturer , run to fat in some hot cli
mate. Add to this an habitual air of
deference , coupled with a shifty look
about the eyes , and you will have some
Idea of the man. To those who were
curious to know his history , he would
explain that he had been in the service
of the King of Oudh before its absorp
tion in the British dominions , and had
risen to high distinction in that state.
On the death of his royal employer ,
Mr. Hunt , owing to difficulties with his
successor ( as he explained ) , was obliged
to leave the country , and started to
make his fortune over again in London.
It was here that he met the millionaire ,
Whom he won over by promises of in
struction in the occult sciences.
Hunt in time became a permanency
In Mr. Gully's household , much to the
disgust of the other members of the
family , who neither bplieved in his pro
fessional powers , nor liked the color of
his skin. In fact , none of the family
sympathized with their parent's re
searches into the unknown , regarding
them as indication of childishness in
his old age.
There was one exception to this atti
tude , and that was in the case of his
youngest daughter. Florence , who , at
the time of her father's death , had just
turned twenty-one. She had been edu
cated at Xewnhamwhere she had at
tained the highest honor granted to
women by a not too generous alma
mater. Florence had been a favorite
of her father's from her childhood , and
although hhe could not participate in
his ( rusting belief in all Stavely Hunt
taught , she still showed a considerable ]
interest in physologlcal research in
deed , it had been her pet subject * t ,
college. I
A word or two here as to the com
position of the Gully household , may
not be amiss. Besides Florence , thtv
were four other daughters , two H
whom were married. The two sons
practically earned on the business ; the
elder , John , editing the newspaper , and
the younger , Peter , attending to the1
publishing department. John Gully in
herited his father's capacity for busi
ness , juid surpassed him in ability to
make a good bargain and showed an j
even stronger spirit of miserliness , and |
la morose nature prevented him from
enjoying the money he so easily gained.
Anna , Mr. William Gully's second
wife , had originally been Florence's
governess. She had been Mrs. Gully
some three years before becoming a.
widow. There was no love in the con
tract , aaid among her friends and ac
quaintances it was hinted , if not open-
Jy stated , that she would before very
long marry a former suitor of hers who
was considerately waiting till the old
man's death should Set her free.
Mr. Gully died quite naturally , sud
denly indeed , but with no such attend
ant circumstances as to justify an in
quest After the funeral it was found
that his testamentary dispositions were
arranged with due respect to the vari
ous needs of the members of his fam
ily , and every one was satisfied , or fair
ly so , with the exception of Mr Stavely
Hunt who seemed to consider thatis
past services justified a more substan
tial legacy than five hundred pounds.
The will had then to be proved , a proc
ess which , owing to the eagerness of
the inheritors to obtain possession of
their legacies , was finished in less than
& fortnight During the interval be
tween the reading of the will and the
proving , John Gully occupied himself
Trith arranging his late father's papers ,
assisted by Stavely Hunt On opening
his father's private desk he found ,
lying on the top of the other papers ,
this peculiar document addressed to
himself :
"My Dear Son Of past years , as you
are aware , I have devotefl myself al
most exclusively to the study of East-
rn science , assisted by my secretary ,
Stavely Hunt I believe that I have
made a most wonderful discovery ,
aamely. the art of suspending con
sciousness at will for a prolonged per
iod. This art is practiced by the Hindoo
yogis , and perhaps others , but the se
cret of it has never yet been known to
Europeans. As it would not be wise
*
to make the secretknown until its
truth is assured. I shall carry on my
experiments privately , in hopes of be
ing able alone to perfect this grand dis
covery. There is a fear , however , that
while doing so I may throw myself into
the cataleptic state without having pre
viously given warning of it to any one.
This state closely resembles death , so
xmucn so tnat no doctor , on a cursory
examination , would imagine it to be
anything else , and my living body
might thus be unwittingly consigned
to the tomb. In the event of my
death , or supposed death. I enjoin you ,
therefore , to keep my body for a period
above ground in a secure place , and
if no decomposition sets in to apply j
it the method of restoring life known to
Stavely Hunt , which must be done with
in three months after my apparent
death "
The letter stopped here , as if the
writer , being suddenly called away ,
had hurriedly placed what be had been
writing in the. desk for safety. The
reader will not , perhaps , be surprised
to learn that John Gully dismissed this
communication with a sneer of unbe
lief , and threw it to Hunt with the
following scornful words :
"Some more of my ' father's tom-
foolery. How mad he must have been'
before he died ! As you encouraged him
in this folly , this may be of more inter
est to you than to' me. "
Hunt took the letter , carefully folded
it without a word , and , putting it into
his pocket proceeded with the work of
sorting the deceased's papers. The let-
tQr , though , was destined to be an
agent of destruction to John Gully's
peace of mind in the future.
The will was proved and all the leg
acies distributed. Stavely Hunt , as
soon as he had obtained his , disappear
ed. He was seen one day , about a week
afterwards , magnificently attired and
three parts drunk , lounging out of a
low public house near the Strand , and
so appeared to be making haste to en
joy his five hundred pounds after his
own approved fashion. Nor was it long
before he came on the scene again.
About five weeks after his father's
death John Gully was sitting in his of
fice when in walked Stavely Hunt , un
announced.
"Well , what do you want ? I hoped
to have seen you for the last time !
Hunt , " said the man he thus intruded
upon.
"I want some assistance , Mr. Gully.
The legacy I had from your father has
all gone. "
"Oh. it has , has it ? Well , you'll not
get a penny from me , so you'd best
clear out sharp , my good fellow , and
not-waste your time. ' '
"Yes but I think you will help me. "
"Theu you think very wrongly , " re
plied John Gully , angrily , as he reached
for the bell. "Good-day. Or must I send
for some one to sliinv you outV"
' -Stay ! " said Hunt , producing a pi-
po. : "do you recognize this letter ? "
C ully recognized it as the document
! * had found among his father's pa
pers.
"A"ell , " Hunt continued , "evorythiirj
you father said in it is true , and yon
havo buried a live man. "
"Vlwt nonsense is this ? " broke in
Gully.
" > one whatever , " replied Hum ;
"aur. if I do not obtain pecuniary help
frui you , I shall liud means to pro-
cu. a the exhumation of your father's
bo'rty and then prove the truth of my
stale uent When he comes to life
tigaii. I think your position will be ma
terial y altered , Mr. John Gully. "
Gul y desisted from his plan of call
ing ft messenger , reflected for a while ,
and t'.en said :
"Well , Hunt , I've been thinking over
your ipsition. Of course I don't be
lieve i word of your ridiculous asser
tion , bjt considering the comfort you
were t my father's declining years ,
perhaps , the money you received by
his will was hardly an adaquate com-
pensafir.n for your devotion. I will
write yt-u a cheque now for two hun-
derd pounds , and if you do not trouble
me in a-y way , or attempt to force
yourself jn any other members of the
family , I will give you another tor
eight hundred pounds at the end of
three mouths. Of course. I must have
that pan r though. I do not wish tny
father's sveakness made public. "
A glaiii-e of intelligence passed be
tween thii twot men , and Hunt inti
mated by a. gesture that he agreed to
the terms. He took the cheque and
bowed hinjsflf out leaving the letter
in John Gull.7s posPession.
That night , instead of returning di
rect to his home , John Gully hailed a
cab ajid drove to Emperor's Gate ,
where his stepmother resided. A long
conference took place between them.
They both professed entire disbelief in
Hunt's assertions , and pronounced the
lateVilliam Gully's letter a piece of
nonsense. But like most people out
wardly skeptical , they were not thor-
jughly convinced in their own minds as
to the impossibility of the thing de
scribed. Besides , their fears as to the
consequences. If it were true , made
them all the more anxious to guard
igainst the possibility of its being veri
fied. Both agreed in the ° nd that noth
ing more could be done to make the
matter safe than what John Gully had
already doue , j
I
X
It would be impossible to obtain i : ,
mission from the authorities to hnv *
the body exhumed without good rea
sons for doing so. and then , 'supposing
Stavely Hunt's story were true , such
a course would bo worse than leaving
things as they were. If Hunt could be
kept quiet until the three months ex
pired , it would not matter what lie did
after that , as by then the late Mr.
Gully would be dead indeed , no matter
how successful his experiments had
been. So they resolved to say nothing
to any one about the business.
But now comes the most wonderful
part of the story. Florence , the young
est daughter , who since her father's
death had been residing with her step
mother , one day disappeared without
leaving any message behind her.
Some efforts were made to trace her ,
but when it was found that she had
realized all the property accruing to
her under the will , and had drawn out
all the money standing to her credit in
the bank , her nearest relations con
cluded that she had vanished of her
own free will. As she was of age and
fully competent to manage her own af
fairs , they were content with putting
an advertisement in the agony columns
of the daily papers , and troubled them
selves no furtier.
* * * * * * *
The time came round for Stavely
Hunt to receive his second check. On
the appointed day he presented him
self at Mr. Gully's office , and on being
ushered in , said :
"Well , Mr. Gully , the three months is
up , I believe. "
"I don't know what you mean.
Hunt. "
"Why. you surely have not forgotten
your promise to give me eight hundred
pounds on this day if I kept quiet as to
the circumstances of your father's
death. "
"Look here. Hunt You may not
know the law about obtaining money
under false pretenses , but if you don't
leave this room pretty sharp , I'll soon
show you. "
Hunt saw the game was up , and de
parted , vowing vengeance.
Not long after this meeting a letter
came from Florence , bearing the post
mark of a village in the south of
France , saying that her father was
alive , and in her care. This put John
Gully and his stepmother into a mild
fever , for they saw they were in dan
ger of being called to account for their
suppression of the old man's letter.
Still their anxiety grew less as time
wore on and they heard nothing more.
The reason of this silence was given
by Florence when she finally rejoined
her family. The following is a con
densed form of her strange story :
As soon as Stavely Hunt had obtain
ed the check for two hundred pounds
from Gully he repaired to Florence and
told her the whole story , at the same
time proposing , with her assistance , to
rescue her father from his living grave.
She readily consented , for her previous
studies induced her to credit his story.
She made her preparations for a jour
ney. The next thing was to obtain the
services of some trustworthy person to
assist in recovering the body.
Acting on the .advice of Hunt , she
told the secret to a young army doctor
named .lansen , who had for some time
been paying her attentions. After a lit
tle not unnatural hesitation , he agreed
to assist them to steal the body. This
was done safely , and through Hunt's
knowledge of the necessary process
they managed to restore Mr. William
foully to life again , and at once made
the best of their way to the south of
France.
, There were good reasons for this last
step in their knowledge of John Gully's
character. But Mr. William Gully
might have been better left whero lie
was. The "experk nee" had been too
much for him. The il-fe attended upon
him with untiring eu-e , but his state
gradually grew WQJSO and worse until ,
before many days Lad elapsed , Mr.
Willijun Gullj u\vas evidently on the
point of death in earnest.
He begged Florence to reward the
young doctor for his kindness by be
stowing on him her hand , and then
passed away.
They buried the old man In the village
graveyard , and Florence lost no time in
obeying her father's last wishes by
marrying Dr. Janscr. Stavely Hunt ,
whom she handsomely rewarded , ap
parently returned to India , for he was
never seen again. SP < h sv.-is the story
that Florence told to her brother and
stepmother.
It is only fair to supplement the
above by the account of the matter
2jiven by John Gully. According to his
version , he never believed his sister's
story , any more than he did Hunt's ,
ro confirm his disbelief , ai'ter much
trouble , he obtained an order for the
exhumation of his father's body in the
jrave to which it had been originally
consigned. He declares that he has
iinple evidence to prove that the body
svas there as he expected , and in just
; uch a condition as a corpse , interred
'or that length of time , would be likely
: o be. His opinion , he added , of Klor-
? nce's story was that she invented it
: o explain the indecent haste with
ivhicb she left a house of mourning to
aiarry Dr. Jansen. Waverley.
Philoprogenitivenesa.
Dog Seller ( with huge uiastliTi--Bet-
: er buy him. boss ; he's very fot > d of
. hildren.
Mr. Schermerhorn No ; he KLan't
lave any of my children. Brooklyn
3agle.
Diiiuity.
Edith Our butler is dignified enough
o be Lord Mayor of London !
Ethel Is that all ? Why. our butler
s dignified enough to be the Lord
ilayor of London's butler ! Puck.
Every boss thinks the boss system
s the best.
Neglect chances to get even.
TEASING A YOUNG SOLDIER.
Commander of a Military Inatituta
Frightens a Small Cadet.
In the "Personal Recollections * ' of
Capt. James Dinlciiis is an account of
a little cadet who suffered a severe
"scare" at the North Carolina Military
Institute. When , he entered the school ,
he reported at once to the president ,
Maj. Hill.
"Well , sir , what is your name ? " asked
Maj. Hill.
"James Bleecker. "
"Well , what is your middle name ? "
"I have no middle name. Just
James. "
The examination proceeded rather
disastrously , but the cauet was finally
dismissed , and told to answer to his
name at reveille the next morning.
The little fellow lay awake nearly all
night , fearing he might not near the
drum-beat ; and when It sounded he
was promptly in line. The roll was
called , and each boy answered ; but
when it came to "Bleecker , " there
proved to be several : H. H. , H. B. and
J. J. When the last-named was called ,
no one answered , and the little new
comer felt that he had been forgotten.
After breakfast , when the boys had
gone to their rooms for st'.i.ly , litte
Bleecker heard a tap outside. He threw
open the door , and found there a ser
geant and two men , with their guns
at a carry.
"I have orders , sir , " said the ser
geant , "to arrest you and take you to
Maj. Hill. "
The boy started back in genuine hor
ror and despair. He wondered if his
father had any conception of the awful
situation , and what he would say if he
knew. But there was njthlng to do
but to yield , and he walked away with
his guard. As soon as they reached the
Major's presence , that officer asked :
"Why were you not at roll-call this
morning ? "
"I was there , " replied the boy.
"Sergeant , did he answer to bla
name ? "
"No , sir. "
"Well , sir , why did you not answer
to your name ? "
"He did not call my name , sir. I was
there ! I declare I was there ! But
did not hear my name called. "
"Call the roll , sergeant ! " ordered the
Major.
The sergeant began , and went on un
til he reached "Bleecker , J. J. "
"Stop , sir ! " said the Major. "Is that
your name ? "
"No. sir , my name is James Bleecker. "
"But you told me that your name was
just James Bleecker. "
"Yes , sir. "
"Well , doesn't j stand for just ? "
This was the Major's private joke ,
which he had concocted in secret , and
at which he never smiled.
WAR ON TUBERCULOSIS.
Kin ? ? Ed-ward to Begin Campaign
Ajraiiiat Dreadful Scourge.
An active campaign against consump
tion is soon to be started in Great Brit
ain Mini no lo s : i personage than King
Edward is to lead
ilie crusade. His
majesty has al
ways manifested
rhe deepest sympa-
thy in the move-
nent to lessen and
ontrol the rav
ages of this dre-id
< I 5 s f a s P. Now
t'omes the infor
mation that Sir
* - i > LKA..M t'At i i Ernest Cassel has
plnced the sum of $1.000,000 at the
King's disposal for ehari'able purposes.
This money , by the King's direction ,
wjll be devoted to the erection of a san
itarium for tuberculosis patients in
England. This sanitarium is intended
to accommodate 100 patients , male and
female. Of the total number of beds
will be reserved for
eighty-eight per
sons who can pay only a small amount
for treatment.
The Eyes of a Inon.
One night , when some troopers wert
encamped in South Africa , it came to
the turn of Rennie Stevenson to go for
water to the spring , which was about
a thousand yards distant. He describes
the experience in his book , "Through
Rhodesia. " A comrade volunteered to
accompany him. When they were near-
ing the spring this manwhispered to
Stevenson.
"There's a lion skulking in the under
growth on the right bank. "
Yes , therewere its eyes , gleaming
through the dark.
"Shall I fire ? " whispered the soldier.
"Yes , fire , but take good aim. If you
only wound it , we are done for. "
The trooper knelt and took a long ,
teady aim.
Bang ! The sound of the shot rever
berated through the surrounding trees
and up the river. But there were the
ayes , still gleaming.
Stevenson asked for the rifle and
crawled nearer , trying to get a better
shot. Closer and closer went the two ,
their hearts in their mouths. Sudden
ly , when they thought they were al
most in the face of the "lion , " they
found the "eyes" to be two glowworms.
The alarmingly bright little creatures
aad not felt it necessary to get out of
; he way. 1
He Was Not Unreasonable
A young man with an impediment in
ais speech went to a stammerers' in
stitute and asked for a course of treat
ment The professor , who , according
0 the Independent had an eye to the
nain chance , asked him if he wanted
1 full or a partial course.
"A p-p-partial c-c-course. "
"How much of a partial course ? "
"Enough s-so that wh-when I go to
i f-f-fl-florist's and ask for a c-c-c-chr-
; hryssanthwhistle ( here ) e-m-mum ,
Jie th-thlng won't -w-wilt b-before I
r-get It"
NEW TAILOfi DRESSES
THEY WILL SOON COME OUT IN
LARGE NUMBhRS.
Have Regained All Their Old-Time
Popularity New IdeaH in Cut and
- Triainiiiicr-Faahioiia from Gotham
Pictured and Described.
New York correspondence :
ITII spring onee
settled , a remarka-
bli > display of tai
loring will bejjin.
Ladies' tailors have
had a bit the worst
of the fashions of
late , but they'll
make up in a few
weeks this spring
for much lost time.
Their output so far
is characterized by
more complexity
than is usual , ami
by free use of trim
mings. Skirts show
closely fitted hip
and habit backs.
This is a revival of
a stylo : een three
years ago. and U a more graceful cut
than the old skirt Usually the skirt is
trimmed up the back Beam , without pleats
or extra fullness at the waist line or di
rectly below. It swings ont gracefully
from this point , however , and flares gen
erously around the feet All the new
COMPARATIVELY SIMPLE NEW TAILORMADES.
skirts in whatever manner they are cut
or trimmed have this outline. Dressy
tailor skirts have inside ilouncings of
lace , chiffon or silk on the lower half
further to accentuate the slinmess above.
Everything that can tfive height and
slenderness to the figure is to be seized
u lion.
All tailor gowns are freely trimmed
in some form or other , the plain untrim-
med skirt being now a hack number and
rarely seen. Some skirts are nude with
box-pleats , others with pleats all around ,
with spaces between stitched down Hat
to the knees where the material flares out
prettily. Stitching , tucking , satin folds ,
silk and velvet bunds , passementerie aul
braid are all nst > d. A forare shown
with linen trimmings , the linen in open
SHOWIER TAILOItIN G AND A CLOAK.
vork design or embroidered in self or
ontrasting colors. Circular flounces are
juite as popular as ever and are tucked ,
rimmed with bands and decorated in
rarious ways with fancy braid or em-
> roidery. An attractive skirt is made
vith a hip yoke , the pleats in the skirt
lelow pointing up into this all around
ind boinr ; set on with an open stitch.
C"his skirt has the effect of large pleats
nade by a narrow inverted pleat on
rhifh in the center is sewn flat , fancy
iraid showing slichtly between the edges
s the skirt swings. The joke idea will
ind favor in all kinds of skirts this sea-
tU. as it helps along so well the look of
lose ht around the hips.
Jackets are short , ending at the waist
ine in the great majority of cases. Some
iave short postilion ends at the back , a
ew are finished with a short basque frill-
haped to fit the hips , but the very short
ackefs ending in a belt or semblance of
belt , are the prevailing mode A Tew
In the
shown
Louis models are
dressy tailor suits , and these usually
elaborately trimmed with fancy braid ,
of some
embroidery
stitched bands or
of jackets are usual *
kind. The fronts
Moused , much or little , as may be most
. In etnmine and
becoming to the figure.
the silks much used for tailor gowna tfte
blouse effect is accomplished by two box-
side of the front
pleats , one on either
double-breasted ,
-
Some jackets are a little
turning back in narrow revers when opeu
The back is close fitting , quite plain-f
tucks.
with
varied
often
one likes , but
Sleeves vary somewhat , yet the cont
flaring cnff
sleeves with a proper fancy
. More e aborate
seems likely to prevail.
and Loui.i
iii basque
sleeves are seen
sleeve in the etoa
coats. One dressy
blouse is especially pretty. It is op
the wrist up over tte
at the back from
elbow , where it rounds in shape and
filled with a puff of lace , fastened wltt
loops of braid and round crochet bnttoms
extend to the end of
at the wrist. These
the opening , but do not fasten over th
elbow. Collars are of all sorts and con
with bra *
ditions. They are trimmed
and embroidery and are made of Bilk
black , white and colors , moire hem * a
favorite for this purpose , or of cloth *
the delicate colors.
Tailor gowns are made in many mate
rials , both lightweight and heavyweight
cloths being available. Scotch tweeds ,
fancy mixed goods , lightweight broad
cloths , Venetians and cheviots are nsod
for the less dressy suit. Etamine , wool
cnnvas and silk and wool sublimes are
for thin tailor suit and make up charm
ingly. Soft silks in light tints and black
and'white materials are to be wor *
white fla > -
throughout summer. Striped
j ncls and mohairs in gray , blue , white and
biscuit are also to be used. Linens and
i madras arc for wash tailor suits , and BO
i are piques and cotton canvas.
I Seven examples of spring tailoring are
j presented in the accompanying 'illustra
tions. In the small picture id a suit of
biscuit etamhie over white silk , trimmed
with black lace and with white moiro
sprinkled with French knots. At the left
in the second sketch is a gray wool can
vas , whose scant ornamentation consisted
of flounces , tucking , herringbone stitch
ing and gray velvet , the last in the belt ,
l.pside this is a light brown and green
cheviot banded with brown and white
velvet Last in this group is a summer
model , n white flannel trimmed showily
with black and white silk. The first gown
I Of
in , .
„ „ „ ; vuc > lul uuu narrow. mj Spnp _
t.ne braid. Its sailor collar
was heav
black lace over white satin. "
and revers. At the
tr. of he other
.
-uite the color of the
- kinof wine ,
T ? bf " - .
It is of a delicate close
mesh and the
figures , while rather heavily done , ar
so fine as not to in
any wise
mar the del
icacy. These double-edged appliqnel
while nsefol In
many ?
ways , are shown a
a hat trimming.