Book123

    Free register and download UseNet downloader, then you can FREE Download from UseNet.

    Download without Limit " An African Millionaire Episodes In The Life Of The Illustrious Colonel Clay by Grant Allen " from UseNet for FREE!

CONTENTS

1. The Episode of the Mexican Seer

2. The Episode of the Diamond Links

3. The Episode of the Old Master

4. The Episode of the Tyrolean Castle

5. The Episode of the Drawn Game

6. The Episode of the German Professor

7. The Episode of the Arrest of the Colonel

8. The Episode of the Seldon Gold-Mine

9. The Episode of the Japanned Dispatch-Box

10. The Episode of the Game of Poker

11. The Episode of the Bertillon Method

12. The Episode of the Old Bailey

I

THE EPISODE OF THE MEXICAN SEER

My name is Seymour Wilbraham Wentworth. I am brother-in-law and

secretary to Sir Charles Vandrift, the South African millionaire and

famous financier. Many years ago, when Charlie Vandrift was a small

lawyer in Cape Town, I had the (qualified) good fortune to marry his

sister. Much later, when the Vandrift estate and farm near Kimberley

developed by degrees into the Cloetedorp Golcondas, Limited, my

brother-in-law offered me the not unremunerative post of secretary;

in which capacity I have ever since been his constant and attached

companion.

He is not a man whom any common sharper can take in, is Charles

Vandrift. Middle height, square build, firm mouth, keen eyes--the

very picture of a sharp and successful business genius. I have only

known one rogue impose upon Sir Charles, and that one rogue, as the

Commissary of Police at Nice remarked, would doubtless have imposed

upon a syndicate of Vidocq, Robert Houdin, and Cagliostro.

We had run across to the Riviera for a few weeks in the season. Our

object being strictly rest and recreation from the arduous duties

of financial combination, we did not think it necessary to take our

wives out with us. Indeed, Lady Vandrift is absolutely wedded to the

joys of London, and does not appreciate the rural delights of the

Mediterranean littoral. But Sir Charles and I, though immersed in

affairs when at home, both thoroughly enjoy the complete change from

the City to the charming vegetation and pellucid air on the terrace

at Monte Carlo. We _are_ so fond of scenery. That delicious view

over the rocks of Monaco, with the Maritime Alps in the rear, and

the blue sea in front, not to mention the imposing Casino in the

foreground, appeals to me as one of the most beautiful prospects in

all Europe. Sir Charles has a sentimental attachment for the place.

He finds it restores and freshens him, after the turmoil of London,

to win a few hundreds at roulette in the course of an afternoon

among the palms and cactuses and pure breezes of Monte Carlo. The

country, say I, for a jaded intellect! However, we never on any

account actually stop in the Principality itself. Sir Charles thinks

Monte Carlo is not a sound address for a financier's letters. He

prefers a comfortable hotel on the Promenade des Anglais at Nice,

where he recovers health and renovates his nervous system by taking

daily excursions along the coast to the Casino.

Buy Book at Lowest Price on Amazon

Rating:
2.5 out of 5 by Book123