THE VAN ROON
By
J. C. SNAITH
THE VAN ROON
THE COUNCIL OF SEVEN
THE ADVENTUROUS LADY
THE UNDEFEATED
THE SAILOR
THE TIME SPIRIT
THE COMING
ANNE FEVERSHAM
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Publishers New York
THE VAN ROON
BY
J. C. SNAITH
AUTHOR OF “THE SAILOR,” “THE UNDEFEATED,”
“THE COUNCIL OF SEVEN,” ETC.
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
NEW YORK :: LONDON :: MCMXXII
COPYRIGHT, 1922, BY
D. APPLETON AND COMPANY
Copyright, 1922, by the Curtis Publishing Co.
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
[Pg 1]
THE VAN ROON
I
North of the Strand, east of the National Gallery,a narrow street winds a devious coursetowards Long Acre. To the casual eye it is no morethan a mean and dingy thoroughfare without charm orinterest, but for the connoisseur it has its legend. HereSwinburne came upon his famous copy of “The FaerieQueene”; here more than one collection has been enrichedby a Crome, a Morland, a choice miniature, afirst proof or some rare unsuspected article of bigotryand virtue.
On the right, going from Charing Cross, halfwayup the street, a shop, outwardly inconspicuous, bearson its front in plain gilt letters the name S. Gedge,Antiques.
A regard for the mot juste could omit the finalletter. S. Gedge Antique was nearer the fact. Tolook at, the proprietor of the business was an antiqueof the most genuine kind, whose age, before hewas dressed for the day, might have been anything.When, however, he had “tidied himself up” to sit atthe receipt of a custom, a process involving a shave, theputting on of collar and dickey, prehistoric frock coat,new perhaps for the Prince Consort’s funeral, and a[Pg 2]pair of jemimas that also were “of the period,” hisyears, in spite of a yellow parchment countenance ofan incredible cunning, could at conservative estimatebe reckoned as seventy.
On a certain morning of September, the years of theproprietor of S. Gedge Antiques, whatever they mightbe, sat heavily upon him. Tall, sombre, gaunt, a crossbetween a hop-pole and a moulting vulture, his tattereddressing gown and chessboard slippers lent a touch offantasy to his look of eld, while the collar and dickeyof commerce still adorned the back kitchen dresser.
Philosophers say that to find a reason for everythingis only a question of looking. The reason for the undressof S. Gedge Antiques so late as eleven o’clock inthe morning was not far to seek. His right hand manand sole assistant, who answered to the name ofWilliam, and who was never known or called by anyother, had been away for an annual holiday o