have done much
better for myself, long before, if I had only looked about me in a
sensible and practical sort of way.

[Illustration: "LIVING WITH HER SISTER NOW."]

[Illustration: MR. GEORGE NEWNES.]

"Lions in Their Dens."

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III.--GEORGE NEWNES AT PUTNEY.

BY RAYMOND BLATHWAYT.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY GEO. HUTCHINSON.

(_Photographs by Messrs. Fradelle & Young._)

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[Illustration: MR. NEWNES'S HOUSE AT PUTNEY.]

[Illustration: THE OBELISK IN THE GARDEN.]

As I toiled up the hill which leads to Putney Heath, I met a small boy,
of whom I asked the way to Mr. George Newnes's house. To my astonishment
he did not know where it was. I gazed at him more in sorrow than in
anger. "What! not know where _Tit-Bits_ lives!" a smart lad standing by
ejaculated, as he pointed out to me the right direction in which to go.
"George Newnes! 'im wot writes _Tit-Bits_! wy I thought everyone knowed
w'ere 'ee lived!" I thanked him, and wandered on half-a-mile or so
until I reached the beautiful house which the "writer" of _Tit-Bits_
built for himself some years ago. Here I was received by Mr. George
Newnes with a welcome which left nothing to be desired in the way of
hearty kindness. Mr. Newnes is a man of middle height, very
good-looking, with auburn beard, and hair dashed with grey. Though
exceedingly wealthy, he is not, as somebody has well expressed it,
"beastly rich." No feeling of the oppression of newly-acquired wealth
flooded my soul as I walked about the pretty house and grounds in his
company. He and his surroundings have the good taste not to obtrude
themselves upon the casual visitor. The man is simplicity itself, and
the most genial and cordial of hosts. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit, nor
was it without infinite interest, for George Newnes is a companion
always amusing, and with always something new and original to say. As we
wandered through the beautiful grounds, some of which are reclaimed from
the wild heath which stretches for miles round the house, he pointed out
to me the curious obelisk, grey and time-worn, which still perpetuates
the memory of the historic mansion once known as "Fireproof." For it was
here that George III. and Queen Charlotte once breakfasted in peace in
the drawing room upstairs, whilst the dining-room below was purposely
ignited to prove that the house was really fireproof. Upon one side of
the house stand the stables, just beyond them a beautiful co