The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1897-09-17
CHAPTER V.-nCoSTrvurD.,

cident. or at the nos an inheritance. no
man likes to confess that another is
UNNECESSARILY his superior in muscular
annoyance that l am obliged to relate
the result of that h~and-to-hand strug-
gle. l was strong, and had measured
my strength with many, but never with
such a man as this. The moment we
closed I felt that I should be conquered;
that right does not always gain the vic
tory. Grants arms were like bars Of
iron, the girth of his chest almost alb
normal: moreover, he stood two inches
taller than I did. Had I been told that
any man could have lifted me from my
feet, carried me through two open doors
and finally thrown nc staggering. into
the center of the roadway, I should have
laughed the idea to scorn. But Eustace
Grant did all this, and shut and bolted
the outer door before I could recover
myself.
Mad with the rage of defeat, | grasped
the ratings and painted for breath. 1
cursed Eustace Grant. | cursed my
faithless wife. I cursed myself and my
could l have obtained a pistol, l would
have waited OF that doorstep and shot
the man who had betrayed me, as soon
as he had emerged from his place of
safety-shot him dead without COM
junction. Nor was my mind any way
soothed by hearing the window thrown
up, and seeing my hat tossed out on
temptuOusly. / was fain to stoop and
pick it up, in order to save myself from
becoming ar object of curiosity to pass
ers-by.
What was l to do? My mind at pres
ent could only grasp one fact-that
Grant had, by some diabolical means,
induced Viola to leave me and give her.
self to him. For awhile my course
seemed limited to one issue; I must
last he came forth. Then I must dog
his footsteps until they led me to the
faithless woman who had ruined my
life and brought me to shame. I
groaned at the thought Of what little
more than twelve hours had done. This
morning I was the happiest man in
England; tonight I was the most mis-
cradle!
So for hours I walked up and down in
front of the house which held the trail
tor. I saw the lights extinguished.
Once or twice I saw the blind drawn
aside, and guessed that Grant was look
ing out to see if I had left my post. No,
you traitor! you villain! I am still there,
and shall be there until you come out.
Then I will dog you to the bitter end.
The hours went by, the dawn began
to break. otill-an object of curiosity,
if not suspicion, to the policeman
kept my post, n should have kept it
for hours longer, had it not all at once
occurred to me that so long as I was
there, so long would Grant remain
where he was. l must perforce keep
watch until I could find some one to
whom the task might be deputed.
At Z o'clock I was able to gain ad-
mission to an old-fashioned family and
commercial inn which stood some short
distance off. The bay window of the
coffee room commanded a view of
Grants house. Here I seated myself,
and, having obtained a London direc-
tory, wrote and dispatched a letter to a
well-known private detective, request
ing that a clever, trustworthy man
might be at once sent to me. Then, from
the window of the hotel, 1 resumed my
watch.
At 9 o'clock the man whom I had
summoned arrived. I told him what to
do. He was to wait until he saw Grant
depart. He was to follow him, and,
having ascertained his destination, was
to telegraph to me at once. Then I left
the accursed spot, went back to my
hotel. and tried to sleep.
AS I entered the room which Viola
and I had occupied, 1 could almost per-
suade myself that I had dreamed the
events Of the last t~wenty-four hours.
All her personal effects were as she left
them; her gloves, her brushes, her tot
let in~dispensables were all there. Even
her watch she had left behind her. She
broke the spring at the seaside, and
there was no time to get it repaired
before we started for the continent; be-
sides, I had intended buying her a new
one in Paris. To-morrow-yes, to-mor-
row would be Thursday-to-morrow we
had proposed crossing to France. Heav-
ems! what did it all mean?