Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1894-04-12
III.
An Unwe1cOme Arrival.

was greatly In request among those
who held them; for he was neither rich
enough, nor clever enough, nor pushing
enough to be remembered by the ladies
who give balls and dinner parties. At
musical afternoons, however, the hum
blest contribution in the shape of a
bachelor is always thankfully received,
| and when he heard that Miss Denham
vas in the habit Of freQuenting these,
he sought and obtained as many invi-
tations to them rs he wished. Everard
Don neglected the interests Of his bust
ness in a manne which would have
been highly culpable had he not had
an experienced partner who could get
on very well without him. He saw
Miss Denham, either at her own house
or elsewhere, every day; and every day
he fell more deeply In love. The fit
fulness OF her moods, which, as she
herself was wont to say, were "of all
shades and colors," only made her the
more winning In his eyes. He, at all
events, knew what he wanted, if she
did not, and sometimes he hoped that
he would get 1t in the long run. 1t
was something that he had no rival.
The men whom Miss Denham was in
the habit Of meeting were not, for the
most part, young men, nor were their
attentions to her Of a kind that the
most jealous of lovers could have OBJ
jected to. She knew how to make
herself agreeable to them; but Everard
saw, or thought he saw, that she re-
garded them as nonentities. Her man.
ner always changed a little when she
addressed him. She often asked his
advice about small matters, and nearly
always took 1t.
Laura leans a good deal upon you,"
Mrs. Patterson said to him casually,
and he was pleased with the phrase.
He did not, of course, take advantage
of the general invitation to dinner
which had been given him; but when
he was asked for a particular evening
he accepted gladly, and on entering the
drawing room he found his friend,
Fellowes, already seated there, listen
ing with much interest to one OF Mrs.
Patterson's blood-curdling anecdotes.
The evening proved a very pleasant
one, for Laura was in unusually high
spirits. She would not play to them,
saying that she was more inclined for
conversation than music, and after din
ner she talked ~cleverly and amusingly,
as she was well able to do when In the
humor. Her impressions Of her fellow
.countrymen and countrywomen, Of
whom she had seen next TO nothing
until recently, diverted her hearers
greatly. She had a talent for mimicry
which had no Miniature about it, and
which indeed seemed to be half uncon-
scious. They were all laughing ut her
description of a lady. who, having TAX
en- her for a professional, and inquired
what she charged for her lessons, md
overwhelmed her with abject and al
most fearful apologies on discovering
that she was the cousin of a viscount,
when the door opened, and the tall
figure of a man, whom neither Everard
nor Fellowes had ever seen before, adj
vanced with noiseless steps into the
ROOM.
He had omitted to give his name, or
the servant had failed to catch it; for
he was not announced. and he was
standing close to the little group before
Mrs Patterson looked up and saw him.
When she did so she uttered a faint
cry, which seemed to betoken dismay
quite as much as surprise. Everard
glanced quickly at Laura, who did not
appear to be either surprised or dis
mayed. Her expression had not chang
ed, she was still smiling, but she re-
manned motionless, and she was look
ing at the new IN with a curious
intentness, as though fascinated or par
alyZed by his sudden appearance.
Everard following the direction of her
gaze, took stock of the stranger. He
was a tall, powerfully built man, evil
IDENTIFY not an Englishman, although
there was nothing about him that gave
an immediate clew to his nationality.
His age seemed to be about thirty. He
wore his light brown hair closely cut,
his features were regular and strongly
marked, and he was perfectly clean
shaven; so that anybody who had not
happened to glance first ut his Eyes
would have been struck by the massive
ness of his jaw. Everard did glance
at his eyes first and stopped there.
They were certainly peculiar eyes. At
n moment they seemed very small;
but the next they dilated, as a cats
eyes dilate in the dark, then contracted
again until they became mere glitter
ing points. The curious phenomenon
was repeated perhaps half a dozen
times during the minute that Eyerard
spent in scrutinizing him. The man
was looking all the while at Laura,
and he, too, had a faint smile upon
his lips.
At the end of those long sixty seconds
he turned abruptly away, and held out
his hand to Mrs. Patterson, saying, In
q low, musical voice, and with scarce
ly any trace Of foreign accent, so
glad to have found you at homer
"You Ia London" gasped Mrs. Pat
terson. How did you know that we
Were here? How did you find out our
address,"
You ask me that?' said the strnng.
er, his smile increasing-"you ask me
that?"
Mrs. Patterson shuddered and fell
back in her chair.
Then he shook hands with Laura,
who had risen, and who said quite
calmly, 'How do you do? Let me in
troduce you to Mr.. Eyerard and MI. \
Fellowes-Count Souratkin"