A Knight of the Nineteenth Century

ted times to draw from his bank at Hillaton such amounts in currency as were needed to pay those in his employ at the place indicated, and send the money thither by one of his clerks. Upon the prese

llars in currency. I wish you to place them securely in your breast-pockets, and take the five-thirty train to New York, and from thence early to-morrow go out on the Long Island road to a little station called Arnotville, and give these packages to Mr. Black, the agent in charge of my factory there. Take his receipt, and report to me to-morr

promptly, "and will try to perform

It could not be hope, for he had assured himself again and again that "hope was dead in his heart." It might have been caused after his long fast by the anticipation of a lunch at the depot and a petit souper in the city, and the thought of washing both down with a glass of wine, or possibly with several. The relish and

rity. Impulse and inclination were his controlling forces, and he was accustomed to give himself up to them without much

tered; "the world cannot know that it is hollo

Here he met an acquaintance among the loungers present, and, of course, asked him to take a social glass also. This personage complied in a manner peculiarly felicitous, and in such a way as to give the impression that his acceptance of the courtesy was a compliment to Haldane. Much practice h

off-handed courtesy indigenous to bar-rooms, where acq

s from New York, Mr. Va

ly in the style of the day. There was nothing in their appearance to indicate that they did

ertain air of superiority, and they shook

he young man was not indifferent to their unspoken flattery. He at once invited them also to state to the smir

erhaps taking a drink with a man inspired these worthies with a regard for him similar to that which the social eating of bread creates within the breasts of Bedouins, who, as travellers assert, will protect with their lives a stranger that has sat at their board; but rob and murder

pected pleasure. Having completed our business in town, time was hanging hea

isposition to be friendly; "Mr. Haldane is in New York occasionally, and we would be glad to m

ion. But the consoling thought now flashed into his mind that, perhaps, Miss Romeyn was, as she asserted, but a mere "child," and incapable of appreciating him. The influence of the punch he had drank and the immediate and friendly interest manifested by these gentlemen who knew the world, gave a plausibl

nerous Mr. Ketchem. A moment later four glasses clinked together, and Haldane's first acquaintance-the young man with the

ater than if it had been taken after a hearty meal, and he began to r

e. I have ordered a little lunch in the dining-room. It will take but a moment for the waiters to add enough f

should be tempted to call our meeting quite providential. But if we lunch with you it must b

dane; "come, let us adjourn to the dining-room. By the w

ue exhilaration was suggested rather than a "secret sorrow." It gave him a fine sense of power and of his manly estate to see the waiters bustling around at his bidding, and to remember th

about them which provincials could not imitate. Even the superior gentleman who introduced them to him had a slightly dimmed and tarnished appearance as he sat beside his friends. There was an immaculate finish and newness about all their appointments-not a speck upon their linen, nor a grain of dust upon their broa

n a prolonged shriek of a locomotive, dying away in the distance, awakened them to a sen

goes ou

Ketchem were appare

h too entertaining a fellow for one to

e, somewhat sobered by the thought of Mr. Arno

legraph?" asked Mr. Van Wink

ey by telegraph. No

of something in their minds, and yet so evanescent was this glance of intelligence that a co

wl-train along at eleven to-night, and you can mail your check or d

eved. "Then I'm all right. I am obliged to go myself, as th

uests met with a furtiv

ly out of his dilemma, he began to

courtesy can make but small ame

elf when I say that I would regret losing this train under most circumstances,

the train as a happy freak of fortune. Let us take the owl-trai

and preoccupied to note that while Mr. Van Wink and Mr. Ketchem were always ready to have their glasses filled, they never drained them very low; and thus it

lunch table Haldane called th

ot care to be seen in the public rooms, for old cast-iron Arnot might make a row about my delay, even though it will make no differenc

rld-I know just the room-cosey-off

rtment as he had described. Though the evening was mild, a fire was lighted in the grate, and as it

f sherry," said Hald

and charge to me," said Mr. Ketchem; "I wish to have m

der for the sherry and brandy, he had sufficient strength of mind to retire. In delicate business transactions like the one under consideration he made it a point to have another engagement when matters got about as far along as they now were in Haldane's case. If anything unpleasant occurred between parties whom he introduced to each other, and he was summoned as a witness, he grew so exceedingly dignif

peared, and, after paying his respects to both, went to keep his engagement, w

put up small stakes at first, just to give zest to the amusement. Haldane lost the first game, won the second and t

e as I ever saw and know how to w

r him, and when they lost they would good-naturedly and hilariously propose that

The heat of the room and the fumes of tobacco combined with the liquor

to be unconscious of the flight of time and all things else. But as he lost self-control, as he half-unconsciously put his glass to his lips with increasing frequency,

sually employed; and, if so, it was quite certain that he had a large sum of money upon his person. Haldane's words on becoming aware that he had missed his train confirmed their surmises, and it was now their object to beguile him into a condition which would make him capab

parently won considerable money, he had lost more, and that not a penny of hi

before the train leaves, and with your disposition toward good luck tonight you could c

" added Mr. Van Wink, suggestively. "Haven't you some funds about you that y

astrous. His mother's weakness now made him weak. In permitting him to take her money without asking, she had undermined the instinct of integrity which in this giddy moment of temptation might have saved him. If he from childhood had been taught that

e and responsible. Indeed, it would be difficult to say how far he was responsible at this supreme mome

race himself in a swift torrent, the gambler's passion surg