Produced by Al Haines. [Illustration: Cover art] *JIM MORTIMER* BY *WARREN BELL* AUTHOR OF "J. O. JONES," "TALES OF GREYHOUSE," ETC. _WITH SIXTEEN FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS BY GORDON BROWNE_ LONDON ADAM AND CHARLES BLACK 1908 *CONTENTS* CHAPTER I. Introducing Jim II. Over the Telephone III. Koko Reports Progress IV. A Handmaid to Mercury V. Jim Rejoices VI. The Doctor Keeps His Word VII. Sir Savile’s Offer VIII. Number Nine IX. In the Pillory X. At the Surgery XI. Mr Maybury’s Resolve XII. Koko’s Word XIII. "Harris & Father" XIV. A Piece of News XV. Koko is Thanked XVI. Jim’s Patients XVII. In the Crescent XVIII. Master Harris is Shown Out XIX. Hard Pressed XX. After the Play XXI. A Matter of Wages XXII. The Warning XXIII. The Ivory Fan XXIV. Jim Catches a Train XXV. In the Silent House XXVI. The Vultures XXVII. The Home-Coming XXVIII. A Delicate Mission XXIX. The Doctor Visits Mount Street XXX. The Week Passes XXXI. In which it is shown that the Bearded Man had made Another Mistake XXXII. In which Two People set out upon a Journey *JIM MORTIMER.* *CHAPTER I.* *INTRODUCING JIM.* People, unless they be star-gazers, do not walk along, as a rule, with their faces turned towards the sky; hence it was that the slender telephone wire communicating between Dr Mortimer’s private residence, "Pangora," and the doctor’s private asylum, escaped the notice of all but a few who fared along the eight miles of high road dividing Threeways from Millingbourne, in the county of Eastfolkshire. And yet this slender wire, which showed up against the blue sky much like a substantial cobweb, was fraught with interest. It was barely 300 yards in length, its installation had been a comparatively cheap and simple undertaking, and it had paid for itself scores of times over. Messages of life and death passed across it constantly; instructions in cases of emergency, tingling over the white line of road, saved the time that would otherwise have been occupied in walking the 300 yards--for doctors do not often run; reprimands were roared across it, bulletins despatched by its agency, dietary altered, medicine prescribed.