CHAPTER I<br >TWO H E N DE L S D I E<br > " HULLO， Eustace ; bad business this about your<br >Cousins."<br > " Cousins ? What cousins ? "<br > Eustace Hendel looked across at the speaker from<br >the table where he was listlessly sorting over illus-<br >trated papers. He had just come into the smoking<br >room of the Jermyn" Club and had been vaguely<br >conscious that one or two members had looked at<br >him curiously from their deep armchairs.<br > "You re related to old Barradys， aren t you ? "<br > "Yes. Why ? What s he done ? You don t say<br >he s passed out at last ? "<br > "No， not he， but his grandson has， and great<br >grandson， too. Howard Hendel and his son.<br >Drowned down in Cornwall."<br > " Good Lord! "<br > " Sorry about it， Hendel "， grunted an old<br > member. " Near relatives， are they ? "<br > "Oh， no， pretty distant cousins; I don t quite<br > know how we stand. We re both descended from<br > the first Lord Barradys. How did it happen ? "<br > "It s in the evening papers---Late Edition ; not<br > the 6.3o， I think."<br > 1<br ><br >