November, 1905.] 



KNOWLEDGE & SCIENTIFIC NEWS. 



285 



great Cornelius Tush was coming' over to London with 

 a view to investing- some of his millions in whatever 

 took his fancy. He proposed, then, getting into a few 

 big (if risky) undertakings, and selling out his shares 

 before paying for them. His was a name to conjure 

 with and he a good prestidigitateur. Bateson, a man 

 with a great reputation for shrewdness in business, 

 though for nothing else, was acting as his chief agent 

 in the matter. London happened to be in the right 

 state, too. An air of speculation was rife in the City. 

 Things were prosperous, and new schemes were finding 

 favour. 



Having then got the news about that he was shortly 

 to arrive, the great man was to appear upon the scene; 

 not, of course, as the sordid, broken-down failure, but 

 as the American Crcesus, with so much money that he 

 didn't know what to do with it all. Then he would 

 make a great display of wealth so as to bear out his 

 reputation, and thus would he take the place by storm, 

 and become again, in fact, a multi-millionaire. 



CHAPTER HL 



The Dinner. 



This much, then, had been done, and Cornelius was 

 now about to issue forth from his chrysalis state into 

 the splendid butterfly. A mass of correspondence had 

 passed between the Tush agents and all sorts and condi- 

 tions of people organising new ventures. Many of the 

 schemes suggested were, of course, absurd; many more 

 mav have been sound enough, but they were not of the 

 sort required; that is, they were not the gigantic under- 

 takings worthy of the notice of such a magnate. Sifted 

 down, there were some ten or a dozen concerns worth 

 consideration. 



There was Singman's World Emporium Syndicate 

 for the conversion of his alreadv targe business in 

 Islington into a colossal City establishment. 



Then Lord Henry FitzEdmund, that shaky old outcast 

 of the aristocracy, had got together a small syndicate 

 of nobodies with high-sounding names, in the hope of 

 building a large new Theatre, a Palace of Varieties, 

 such as would dwarf all the old-established places of 

 entertainment. 



The European Hotel Company, under the manage- 

 ment of the well-known M. Jean Rideau, wished to 

 open a grand new hotel in some central situation. 



There was the good old Lord Whittingbourne, with 

 his proposal for housing the poor; not suggestive of 

 much money-makjng, but a huge scheme which would 

 cause millions to pass. Besides all these were a new 

 tramway company, a great building syndicate, and 

 many more projects which need not be recounted. 



It was difficult, indeed, to see how it was possible 

 for Tush to set them all going. Most of them re- 

 quired capital, and he had none. But, then, his name 

 might secure others who had ; anyhow, they were all 

 big things, and something might be got out of them. 

 Tush always avoided involving himself by talking 

 matters over too minutely, but preferred (having heard 

 or read all details of the scheme) to leave matters in 

 such a vague, uncertain state, that no one quite under- 

 stood how much or how little he had become identified 

 with the project. 



He was now to meet the various promoters. The 

 best way to do this, he decided, was to ask them 



each to dinner " to talk it over." If they came and 

 did themselves well, they would return thinking all ivai 

 well, even though nothing whatever had been definitely 

 settled. So all the principals were invited to a great 

 banquet (called a " quiet dinner ") at the Savile Hotel, 

 where the millionaire had now taken up his quarters. 

 How all this was to be paid for Tush alone knew, but 

 it was not difficult for a man with such a name and 

 fame to get together a few thousand pounds. Accord- 

 ingly, one day, the butterfly burst forth from the 

 chrysalis, and even mine host of the Savile, accustomed 

 as he was to wealthy and particular customers, was 

 aghast at the sumptuousness of living displayed. 

 Wherever he went Tush was most lavish with his 

 money. Cabmen were always paid (before strangers) 

 in gold. Waiters received handsome gratuities. 

 Beggars had sovereigns flung to them. Everything 

 was done to display his wealth. The visitors that 

 called had always to be supplied with the best cham- 

 pagne and choicest cigars. The finest suite of rooms 

 in the hotel had to be reserved, three or four servants 

 were specially told off solely to wait on the great man. 



Then came the dinner. Each item was of the 

 choicest and the costliest. No money was to be spared 

 in serving the most magnificent repast that could be 

 procured. A large private dining-room was engaged 

 for the occasion. Superb table decorations were tastily 

 arranged on the groaning board. Menus, engraved on 

 solid silver in the form of a suitable souvenir, were 

 supplied for each guest to take away with him. It 

 almost got to the stage of the proverbial city feasts, 

 where a bank-note was placed under every plate 

 (though, in reality, these would not have been so easy 

 to supply, credit for such not being so readily obtain- 

 able). 



The guests duly arrived and were ushered into the 

 presence of their munificent host. A few well-chosen 

 words greeted each of the patrons of progress, and 

 shortly the distinguished company trooped into the 

 great dining-room, resplendent with its dazzling display 

 of sumptuousness and wealth. So the brilliant banquet 

 commenced. Lord Whittingbourne, on Tush's right 

 hand, eagerly discussed his philanthropic scheme, 

 which, as he pointed out, required more capital than 

 he had originally estimated for, since he had come to 

 the conclusion that a good central site for the building 

 was most essential, as "the working man ought, without 

 doubt, to be near his work. On the other side the 

 Chairman of the European Hotel Company quizzingly 

 referred to the dinner that he would eive in return when 

 their great London Hostelry should be opened, wnue 

 Lord Henry, with a satanic grin, wished his grand palace 

 of entertainment was ready for them all to repair to 

 as a fitting finale to the programme. The various 

 schemes were each privately referred to during the 

 course of the evening, but little was promised. " Well, 

 we must see what we can do," was the usual vague 

 yet encouraging reply of Cornelius. 



The party finally broke up in the best of spirits. 

 Each of the guests considered that he, and he alone, 

 had the ear of the all-powerful Tush, looking upon the 

 others as mere guests .with no special object to achieve. 

 They all rolled off in their hansoms, cigar in mouth, to 

 instil hope into their respective confreres awaiting them 

 at their clubs. 



Thus passed off one of the most notable dinners of 

 the day. Ostensibly full of promise of great things, 

 yet, in'realitv, it might have been barren of results nad 

 not the mind of Tush happened to hit upon that great 

 idea which proved so far-reaching in its development. 



