Kearns

“ He who was addressed as Lieutenant looked serious.
“Your name,” he demanded of Kearns.
“Thomas Kearns,” was the answer, impressively given; “and I’m chief of detectives of the New York police.”
The Lieutenant glanced up quickly, with an astonished look.
“My name isn’t unfamiliar, perhaps,” continued Mr. Kearns with some sarcasm.
The Lieutenant laughed softly.
“Yes,” he replied, “the name is familiar to me. So is that of Captain Kidd, and other legendary heroes of the past. Thomas Kearns, eh? There isn’t a small boy in the country who doesn’t know the name and who hasn’t read of his exploits.” ”

“ Kearns never forgave that laugh, and it was not long until Converse, in spite of his great ability, fell into an especially clever net set by Kearns. Incidentally, he paid the penalty of that laugh with a twenty years’ sentence. It was not a healthy occupation to laugh at Mr. Kearns in those days.
Lord Ashley noticed Kearns’ very evident chagrin.
“No, no,” he hastened to explain; “thanks to our modern scientists we have no flies or—ah—mosquitoes in these days. They are unknown to-day except as curiosities in the collection of some scientist, or under the glass cases in our museums. ”

“ There was this much to be said in favor of Kearns—he was free from any political affiliations and could not by any possibility be mixed up with any Court, or outside, influences: an extremely desirable man, therefore, from this viewpoint alone. ”

“ Lady Brooke, in particular, diligently pumped him for a long half-hour as to what he knew regarding the mysterious disappearance of Captain Stanley Mortimer. Mr. Kearns listened placidly; uttered solemn generalities and told nothing. With Lady Brooke he did go so far as to inform her that he would furnish her with the information she desired “in due course,” with which answer, in spite of further energetic probings, my Lady Brooke had to rest content. The result was that Mr. Kearns was put down as a man who knew more than he would tell and as a very wise person generally. ”

“ Now it was the turn of Kearns and the Professor to exchange glances of astonishment. That a simple request to be supplied with information as to where a horse and carriage could be hired should produce such results was certainly amazing.
Kearns stepped nearer to Dean. “I believe these fellows are crazy,” he whispered. “Perhaps they have escaped from the Weldon Asylum.”
“The smaller man seems a case of senile dementia,” whispered back the Professor, cautiously; “but the larger fellow looks to me like a dangerous lunatic—possibly a homicidal maniac. ”

“ The Guards! They have been attacked!” cried Kearns as, breathless and panting, he ran into the Chancellerie.
“Attacked!” repeated Mortimer, standing sword in hand, stern-faced and bleeding from a wound in the arm. “Attacked by whom?”
“The air-ships—the air-ships!” gasped Kearns. “But,” he exclaimed, pointing to the form upon the ground; “what—what is this?”
“One who has met a rightful doom!” answered Mortimer. “But the attack—tell me of the attack.” ”

“ Of course, his presence in the palace would be a danger and a menace.
Kearns listened to the end. Only the august presence in which he stood prevented him from laughing outright.
“And are these the disclosures Lord Ashley made to you, Sire?” asked Kearns, with a cynical smile.
“Such is, in brief, part of the report,” said the King. “What have you to say to it?”
“Simply this, Sire,” answered Kearns; “it shows how grievously a man will blunder when he dabbles in an art he doesn’t understand.” ”

“ Let’s have another little nip from the flask to recruit our strength and move on.”
“I seldom indulge,” began the Professor, “but——”
“Don’t be bashful, Professor,” hastily interposed Kearns; “help yourself.”
After each had thus refreshed himself, they renewed their journey.
[36] “From your scornful reference to Independents just now,” remarked Dean, “you don’t seem to hold them in very high estimation.”
“Ah, those Independents!” exclaimed Kearns, with fine scorn. “It’s my experience that an Independent is usually a fellow with a keen eye to his independent interest. ”

“ Our camp had been pitched, I was stretched out on my cot resting after a hard, hot ride, when I was aroused by a disturbance near the guard tent. As I looked out an old Rifleman, named Kearns, knocked the sergeant of the guard down. I have never seen a man knocked as he was. He went tumbling fifteen feet before he rested on his back. Kearns stood, pistol in hand, defying arrest. He was six feet two inches in height, and was known as the bully of he regiment. ”

“ Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown. It seemed as if the familiar words might be paraphrased: “Uneasy are those who live within the shadow of a throne.”
A messenger entered the ball-room and, glancing about him, made his way to where Kearns sat. ”

“ Walker, at about forty paces' distance from Kearns, was attempting to cap his Colt's rifle and shoot him down where he stood; for he thought it was the signal for a general uprising; that it meant violence to us and to our wives and children. ”

“ Kearns could only gasp in astonishment.
“The Waldorf-Astoria,” repeated the bartender meditatively; “oh, yes! I think I remember now. Isn’t that the big restorang and commercial lodging-house ’way down below Forty-second Street somewhere? Sure, I remember, now. I couldn’t tell you what they may sell in a place like that. I’ve always worked in first-class places. How did you say that drink is made?”
“Simply a little whiskey and a long dash of seltzer,” said Kearns, wearily.
“Oh!” answered the bartender airily; “that’s a Marquanna—called after the famous Marquis Marquanna.” ”

“ Then the door of the tower room opened and Rawlins, the supervisor, stepped in.
"All right, Kearns," he said curtly, "you're through. And if anyone asks me about your ability as an electronics engineer, I'll write out the blackest recommendation I can think of." ”

“ What the French authors did for Vidocq, Branderhurst has done for you. You are known to our girls and boys, and readers of sensational literature [70] generally, as a Fouché and a Vidocq rolled into one. In a word, as the great American Director of Secret Police.”
“They didn’t quite style it that way in my day,” answered Kearns, “but I suppose it’s all right. A rose under any other name would smell just as sweet! As for Branderhurst, I’m sure I’m obliged to him for acting as a gratuitous post-mortem press agent. What can I do to repay him, I wonder!” ”

“ The portieres parted as he spoke and Beatrice ran, eager and excited, into the room.
“We are attacked! A swarm of men are pouring into the palace and the grounds. Where is Dorothy? Oh!—oh!—what is this!” and she ran to the figure lying upon the divan.
“I must go to my post,” cried Mortimer, casting a desperate glance toward the divan. “I must rally the men to the defense of the palace!”
“Too late!” exclaimed Kearns, turning sharply. ”

“ His mysterious disappearance in 1900 was one of the sensations of the day. The date of his death and place of burial are unknown.’ Now, sir, what do you say to that?” exclaimed the Colonel, tapping with his index finger upon the page before him. “Do you still think there is any mistake?”
“Hooray!” cried Kearns triumphantly, waving his hand in the air. “This is indeed a case of a man waking up to find himself famous. I congratulate you, Professor.”
“Let me add my felicitations,” said Dr. O’Hanlenne. ”

“ I snatched up my six-shooter, and ran to Walker, urging him not to shoot Kearns, adding that I could disarm him. Mrs. Walker at the same time clung to her husband, imploring him not to shoot, while I, holding my cocked pistol behind me, advanced rapidly towards my man, striving to keep the while between Walker and him. As I approached him, I held out my left hand for his revolver, and said a few earnest words to him about the helpless women and children he was endangering, ending by ordering him to go at once to the guard tent. ”

“ The sumptuous decorations, the masses of flowers, the resplendent uniforms, the glittering crosses and orders upon the breasts of many of the men, the Court dresses, the blaze of jewels—composed a scene of the utmost brilliancy and splendor.
And the women! American women have ever been famed for their grace, their ineffable chic and their beauty, and certainly the race, as viewed from this ball-room floor, seemed by no means to have declined. Kearns, who had been a regular attendant at the opera in the old days, considered himself quite a judge of feminine loveliness. ”

“ The multi-millionaires of the period aspired to a match with an English Duke or Earl; those of lesser millions were compelled to put up with a French Count, or a German Baron. No woman was too beautiful, no dot too great, provided a title were involved. No personality was too repulsive, no reputation or character too vile, provided they were gilded over by a patent of nobility. Do the chronicles that tell of these things lie, or do they record the truth?”
“The frozen truth!” answered Kearns curtly. ”

“ It is not well that such rumors——”
“Rumors!” exclaimed the King with violence, “think you, Milord, that these things are safely locked within the walls of the Chancellery! Think you that such secrets are securely hidden? that they are not whispered about among the people? Ah, don’t deceive yourself. But what care we as to this! All the efforts of our officers, our soldiers, our Secret Service have failed to protect us from these visitations. We would that he,” and he turned to Kearns, “should know all that he may fully grasp the necessities of the situation and measure the danger.” ”

“ Look out, Professor, that in spite of your hundred odd years, you don’t get enmeshed. Let me see this beauty. Whew! But the man is right. Beautiful! Why, she’s a dream—a lovely dream! What eyes—what teeth!”
“Who is she?” repeated the Professor.
“That,” answered Colonel Cuming, “is the lady to whom you heard Beatrice refer—Miss Dorothy Brandon, a distant cousin of Beatrice and one of the maids of honor to Her Majesty, the Queen.”
“And are the other three ladies also maids of honor?” asked Kearns, with a sly glance at General Mainwarren. ”

“ Here Perk found them both as he came full tilt around the corner, realizing something not down on the bills as far as his knowledge went, must have taken place.
“Jack–what’s happened–are you bad hurt, buddy?” Perk demanded excitedly as he bent down over his chum.
“All right–only had to use the tear-gas again–be better right off–don’t let Kearns get away on your life!”
“Hot ziggetty! you jest bet I won’t old hoss!” whooped the delighted Perk as he squatted 241 alongside the still writhing Oswald, his automatic held in readiness only waiting for Jack to recover enough to take things in charge. ”

“ Perk wanted to know–“why under the sun does he play both ends o’ this queer game–what’s the sense o’ his havin’ this wee shack in the wilderness when he could carry on his racket just as well on the eastern shore?”
“Just because he fancies the idea of keeping his two personalities as far apart as possible, Perk. Uncle Sam’s Coast Guards, revenue officers and even Secret Service men fairly swarm around Miami most of the year so they’d be apt to make it more or less unpleasant for the elegant Oswald Kearns in his society functions if he had his pals dodging in and out of his princely palace. ”

“ Secretary of Health and Human Services 831 F.2d 282 (1987) Miller v. White 831 F.2d 282 (1987) Valway v. Kearns 831 F.2d 282 (1987) American Steel and Aluminum v. One Company 831 F.2d 282 (1987) United States v. Hailu 831 F.2d 282 (1987) Ortiz Rodriguez v. Secretary of Health and Human Services 831 F.2d 282 (1987) Correa Falcon v. Secretary of Health and Human Services 831 F.2d 283 (1987) Pistone v. Sullivan 831 F.2d 283 (1987) United States v. Dufort 831 F.2d 283 (1987) In Re Mikulec Industries Inc 831 F.2d 283 (1987) Macri v. Hayes 831 F.2d 283 (1987) Power Test Corp. v. ”

“ Is he badly hurt? for they would not let me see him at the gaol.’
‘Serious, I believe they are. He is cut cruelly about the face and head, and his body bruised all over. The finest peasantry have a taste for kicking with strong brogues on them, Mr. Kearney, that cannot be equalled.’
‘I wish with all my heart they’d kick the English out of Ireland!’ cried Kearney, with a savage energy. ”

“ Kearney, and that bigoted old Tory, Tom Flood, were to be seen walking together, and in close confab. It will show them, at all events, that neither of us wants to make party capital out of this scrimmage, and that he who wants to affront one of us, cannot, on that ground, at least, count upon the other. Just look at the crowd that is watching us already! There ‘a a fellow neglecting the sale of his pig to stare at us, and that young woman has stopped gartering her stocking for the last two minutes in sheer curiosity about us.’
Kearney laughed heartily as he nodded assent. ”

“ Kearney made his excuses with a tact and politeness which spoke of a time when he mixed freely with the world, and old Flood was so astonished by the ease and good-breeding of his visitor that his own manner became at once courteous and urbane.
‘Make no apologies about the hour, Mr. Kearney,’ said he. ‘An old bachelor’s house is never very tight in discipline. ”

“ Kearny in Washington during a portion of the winter of ’47 and ’48, and was, doubtless, most painful to him, for no man in the army had previously borne a higher character for soldiership than Col. Fremont. The court martial fully sustained Gen. Kearny in every pretension, and but one person has been found in America to cavil at the sentence. ”