Three Men and a Maid

mailers or anyone else to whose comfort the best legal advice is essential, and have decided to put your affairs in the hands of the ablest and discreetest firm in London, you pro

of the offices of Marlowe, Thorpe, Prescott, Winslow and Appleby. As you tap on the topmost of the geological strata concealing the groun

him the latest case of demurrer, and Winslow and Appleby treading on your toes, deep in conversation on replevin. But these legal firms dwindle. The years go by and take their toll, snatching away here a Prescott, there an Appleby, till before you know where you are, you are down to your last lawyer. The only surviving member of the firm of Ma

laid down both engines of destruction and beamed. He was not a particularly successful beamer, being hampered by a cast in one eye which gave him a truculent and sinister look; but those who knew him knew that he had a heart of gold and were not intim

Mr. Sa

o, Pe

ou back a week ago.

Why, of

shook h

s feared something might have happened to you. I recall mentioning it to t

ren't often wre

. America's a dangerous country. But perhap

t think

no. Peters,

t a fond and almost paternal lo

you doing with that

s lowered

rs in connection with The People v. Schultz and Bowen. It's a big case over there. A client of ours is mixed up in it, an Americ

rmitted himself in nearly two

o you think New York is?" he a

I take my young lady to a cinema, and, I tell you, they teach you something. Did you ever see 'Wolves of the Bowery'? There was a man

ou were, lugging that

rs seeme

t Street Rifle Range during my lunch hour. You'd be surprised how quickly one picks it up. When I get home at night I try how quick I can draw. You have to

s my father in? I'd like to

es, shed his sinister front like a garment. H

llaby. Yes, sir, very good. Wi

tating into the attentive ear of Miss Milliken, his elderly

ound, cheerful face and a bright eye. His morning coat had been cut by London's best tailor, and his trousers perfectly creased by a sedulous valet. A

t nothing will induce us … will induce us … where did I put that letter? A

ll, Sir

utterworth. What infernal names these people have

orning,

but I'll be finished i

Milli

f of our

ged if I know. Your poor mother wanted to call you Hyacinth, Sam. You may not know it, but in the 'nin

ember that the latter had just returned from a long journey, and tha

you're back, Sam.

eaten in the

uppose you were weak on the greens, I warned you about th

is broken spirit now, Sam uttered a bitter laugh. It was as if Dante had rec

n great spirits," said

ar your merry laugh

lik

her, adjusting her spectacles and smiling at S

n gloomy satisfaction, how remarkably pale and drawn his face looked. And these people seemed to imagine that he was in th

nce more, "we beg to state that we are prepared to accept service … sounds like a tennis mat

nearly a

the deuce have you be

n't I se

wn at Bingley

h were you doing at th

self," said Sam wi

ad leaped back to the lett

to be fond of manly sports. Still, life isn't all athletics. Don't

nd shut her eyes, her invariable

ing. And our hearts though stout and brave, Still like muffled drums are beating Funeral marches to the grave. Lives of great men all remind us we can ma

you about that when I've finished answering these infernal letters. Where was I? 'We should be glad to meet you at any time, if

ited my mood. It was gray and dark, and it rained all the time,

aware that his father

tion had return

utterworth knows it better than Goole, and Brigney knows it better than Butterworth. This young fool, Eggshaw, Sam, admits that he wrote the girl twenty-three letters, twe

ike a

reproachfully at thi

no notice o

. Get those typed, Miss Milliken. Have a cigar, Sam. Miss Milliken, tell Peters as y

ed ten seconds of the period which he had set aside

you were in America, and I've come to the conclusion that I've been letting you drift along. Very bad for a young man. You're getting on. I don't say you're s

es, that's enough!" He put down the instrument. "Yes, life is real, life is earnest," he said, gazing at Sam seriously, "and the grave is

te ready,

ed Sir Mallaby with a look of surprise

d I was qu

hanged your views a trif

nged them a

Samuel Marlowe. Work, he had decided even before his conversation with Eustace, was the only medicine for his sick soul. Here, he felt, in this quiet office, far from the tumu

iven you some sense. I'm glad of it. It makes it easier for me to say something

. His father looked

me smoke th

," explained Sa

by shook

d do you a world of good, Sam. It would brace you up. You really ought to consider the idea. I was two years youn

ossi

There's lots of good in you, my

mpossibility of the possibility…. I mean, that it was impossible that I cou

r wh

he

amily have had hearts like steam-engines. Probably you have been f

eated me in a way that has finished her whole sex as

aid Sir Mallaby, interested. "When

es

erica

the

y chuckled

cted to fall in love with a different girl every time you go on a voyage. You'll get over this in a week. You

-tube blew. Sir Mallaby put

to Sam. "I shall have t

to see me.

rcepted Sam as he

Mr.

es

mind telling him that I inadvertently omitted a stanza. It runs," said Miss Milliken, closing her eyes, "'Trust no future, howe'er plea