THE MAN FROM BRODNEY'S

CONTENTS

CHAPTER
I THE LATE MR. SKAGGS
II AN EXTRAORDINARY DOCUMENT
III INTRODUCING HOLLINGSWORTH CHASE
IV THE INDISCREET MR. CHASE
V THE ENGLISH INVADE
VI THE CHÂTEAU
VII THE BROWNES ARRIVE
VIII THE MAN FROM BRODNEY'S
IX THE ENEMY
X THE AMERICAN BAR
XI THE SLOUGH OF TRANQUILLITY
XII WOMEN AND WOMEN
XIII CHASE PERFORMS A MIRACLE
XIV THE LANTERN ABOVE
XV MR. SAUNDERS HAS A PLAN
XVI TWO CALLS FROM THE ENEMY
XVII THE PRINCESS GOES GALLOPING
XVIII THE BURNING OF THE BUNGALOW
XIX CHASE COMES FROM THE CLOUDS
XX NEENAH
XXI THE PLAGUE IS ANNOUNCED
XXII THE CHARITY BALL
XXIII THE JOY OF TEMPTATION
XXIV SEVERAL PHILOSOPHERS
XXV THE DISQUIETING END OF PONG
XXVI DEPPINGHAM FALLS ILL
XXVII THE TRIAL OF VON BLITZ
XXVIII CENTURIES TO FORGET
XXIX THE PURSUIT
XXX THE PERSIAN ANGEL
XXXI A PRESCRIBED MALADY
XXXII THE TWO WORLDS
XXXIII THE SHIPS THAT PASS
XXXIV IN THE SAME GRAVE WITH SKAGGS
XXXV A TOAST TO THE PAST
XXXVI THE TITLE CLEAR


ILLUSTRATIONS


"He saw the Princess for the first time that afternoon"

"'Don't you intend to present me to Lady Deppingham?'"

"'No,' she said to herself, 'I told him I was keeping them for him'"

"He felt that Genevra was still looking into his eyes"




THE MAN FROM BRODNEY'S




CHAPTER I

THE LATE MR. SKAGGS


The death of Taswell Skaggs was stimulating, to say the least,
inapplicable though the expression may seem.

He attained the end of a hale old age by tumbling aimlessly into the
mouth of a crater on the island of Japat, somewhere in the mysterious
South Seas. The volcano was not a large one and the crater, though
somewhat threatening at times, was correspondingly minute, which
explains--in apology--to some extent, his unfortunate misstep.

Moreover, there is but one volcano on the surface of Japat; it seems all
the more unique that he, who had lived for thirty years or more on the
island, should have stepped into it in broad daylight, especially as it
was he who had tacked up warning placards along every avenue of
approach.

Inasmuch as he was more than eighty years old at the time, it would seem
to have been a most reprehensible miscalculation on the part of the Grim
Reaper to have gone to so much trouble.

But that is neither here nor there.

Taswell Skaggs was dead and once more remembered. The remark is proper,
for the world had quite thoroughly forgotten him during the twenty odd
years immediately preceding his death. It was, however, noticeably worth
while to remember him at this particular time: he left a last will and
testament that bade fair to distress as well as startle a great many
people on both sides of the Atlantic, among whom it may be well to
include certain distinguished members of the legal profession.