A Protegee of Jack Hamlin's; Jeff Briggs's Love Story Volume 20 (Paperback)

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1894 edition. Excerpt: ...a back seat when he 's around? Owns half of Scotland by this time, I reckon." The consul believed that Sir James had the reputation of being exceedingly sagacious in financial and mercantile matters, and that he was a man of some wealth. "Naturally. I wonder what he 'd take to come over to America, and give the boys points," continued Custer, in meditative admiration. "There were two or three men on Scott's River, and one Chinaman, that we used to think smart, but they were doddering ijuts to him. And as for me--I say, Jack, you did n't see any hayseed in my hair that day I walked inter your consulate, did you?" The consul smilingly admitted that he had not noticed these signs of rustic innocence in his friend. "Nor any flies? Well, for all that, when I get home I 'm going to resign. No more foreign investments for me. When anybody calls at the consulate and asks for H. J. Custer, say you don't know me. And you don't. And I say, Jack, try to smooth things over for me with her." "With Miss Elsie?" Custer cast a glance of profound pity upon the consul. "No; with Mrs. Kirkby, of course. See?" The consul thought he did see, and that he had at last found a clue to Custer's extraordinary speculation. But, like most theorists who argue from a single fact, a few months later he might have doubted his deduction. He was staying at a large country-house many miles distant from the scene of his late experiences. Already they had faded from his memory with the departure of his compatriots from St. Kentigern. He was smoking by the fire in the billiard-room late one night when a fellow-guest approached him. "Saw you didn't remember me at dinner." The voice was hesitating, pleasant, and not quite unfamiliar. The consul looked up, and identified the figure before...