ter the thing which weighed upon the Captain's mind.

"I may be mistaken, suh," said he, drawing himself up, and thrusting one
hand into the tightly-buttoned breast of his black Prince Albert,
"entiahly mistaken in the premises; but I have the impression that
diffe'ences of a pussonal nature ah in existence between youahself and a
gentleman whose name in this connection I prefuh to leave unmentioned.
Such being the case, I assume that occasion may and naturally will arise
foh the use of a friend, suh, who unde'stands the code--the code,
suh--and is not without experience in affaiahs of honah. I recognize the
fact that in cehtain exigencies nothing, by Gad, but pistols, ovah a
measu'ed distance, meets the case. In such an event, suh, I shall be mo'
than happy to suhve you; mo' than happy, by the Lord!"

"Captain," said Jim feelingly, "you're a good fellow and a true friend,
and I promise you I shall have no other second."

"In that promise," replied the Captain gravely, "you confeh an honah,
suh!"

After this it was thought wise to permit the papers to print the story
of Cornish's retirement; otherwise the Captain might have fomented an
insurrection.

"The reasons for this step on the part of Mr. Cornish are purely
personal," said the _Herald_. "While retaining his feeling of interest
in Lattimore, his desire to engage in certain broader fields of
promotion and development in the tropics had made it seem to him
necessary to lay down the work here which up to this time he has so well
done. He will still remain a citizen of our city. On the other hand,
while we shall not lose Mr. Cornish, we shall gain the active and
powerful influence of Mr. Charles Harper, the president of the Frugality
and Indemnity Life Insurance Company. It is thus that Lattimore rises
constantly to higher prosperity, and wields greater and greater power.
The remarkable activity lately noted in the local real-estate market,
especially in the sales of unconsidered trifles of land at high prices,
is to be attributed to the strengthening of conditions by these steps in
the ascent of the ladder of progress."

Cornish, however, was not without his partisans. Cecil Barr-Smith almost
quarreled with Antonia because she struck Cornish off her books, Cecil
insisting that he was an entirely decent chap. In this position Cecil
was in accord with the clubmen of the younger sort, who had much in
common with Cornish, and little with the overworked and busy rai