Reporter and farmer. [volume] (Webster, Day County, Dakota [S.D.]) 188?-1946, 1898-07-07

III
| had better avoid all possibility OF any
| further unpleasantness by clearing ou'
| MT once? My temper is not quite an
gelic. you know"
We'll, stay on, say, two days LONGER,
just to save appearances explaiheu
stephen. III see that Derek pehaVes
himself until then" S,
II don't quite see your point, salu
Oscar: ''but have it your Owl way
Stephen accordingly circulated a III
NOR that his brother was UNEXPECTEDLY
ordered TO report himself AT heauquar-
tiers for medical examinations: u al
though no one except possibly the old
baronet, who cared nothing whether
his elder nephew stayed or wenrl pc
lieved the tale, it answered the pur-
pose for which it vas invented.
Now, the house-party numbered elght
guns, and the nature of the ground TO
be shot over favored the ar ~.lnge.eeht
generally known as shooting IN pairs.
This, naturally enough, engendered 4
| certain amount of rivalry rs to when
couple should secure the heaviest a
and, in order TO equaliZe chances, part
nerships for each day We're decided py
lot. There being no open, ayoWeu
rupture between the cousins, no spe-
eial %nrecaution was taken TO keep Us
ear and Derek apart, and Fate p%rotited
by the opportunity to throw them to-
gether upon the eve OF oscars pro
posed departure.
A slight feeling of awkwardness was
evident when the result of the draw
ings was made known, but IL was TOO
delicate a matter for open comment.
Faucet. indeed. limited pretty strongly
to Stephen (who superintendent the
drawings that he ought to have pre-
vented the contretemps by SUBSTITUTE
ing his own name for Oscars.
How could /, without cheatingT
! protested Stephen, virtuously. BE
| sides, Derek knows that OSCAR is leay-
ing tomorrow, and has promised me TO
keep quiet
The weather. which had been warm
and bright in the forenoon, turned out
wet and bleak towards evening; and.
as not unfrequently happens under
such circumstances, the spOrtsmen be-
came scattered, seeking shelter or brav-
ing the elements, according TO individ.
ual taste. Stephen, who vas keenly
sensitive to personal discomfort, soon
deserted his partner, Faucet, in favor
! of a farmhouse, where he remained UNI
! til a cessation of the rainfall afforded
him a chance of returning TO Deans
hurst with a dry skin.
And, by way of extra precaution
! against a wetting, he elected TO return
by a somewhat circuitous route,
through what were known as Bran
ham Woods. He had given up all
thought Of cartridges for that day. re-
lieving the monotony of his solitary
walk by an occasional crack at a rab-
bit.
He was still a couple of miles dis
tant from home when the sound of
voices. proceeding from some spot to
the left of the narrow pathway he was
following, struck his ear. He stopped
and listened attentiyely.
An angry discussion was clearly iii
progress, and in the sharp, q~uerulous
tones Of one Of the voices he at once
recognized that of Dereck. Nor was
he long in convincing himself that the
other disputant was his brother Oscar.
Stephen listened for some time with
out stirring, and, from the nervous
twitching of his lips, seemed undecid-
ed how to act. That a quarrel, per-
haps a serious quarrel, had arisen be
tween these two armed men. already
on bad terms with each other, was OBJ
vious; and, given the hasty, vicious
temper of the younger of the twain, it
was quite on the cards that this quar-
rel might end badly.
Stephen realized this thoroughly. and
that his plain duty was to step in be
tween them without an instant's de-
lay. But duty was not usually the
guiding principle of his conduct, where
il clashed with s~elf-interest. He could
not make up his mind whether interior
ence or a~bstention would the better
suit his own book; and, therefore, he
hesitated.
Louder and angrier rose the voices,
until at length either his better nature
or curiosity to hear the words spoken
gained the day, and he cautiously adj
vanced toward the spot whence thew
proceeded. Favored by the thick un-
~dergrowth, he was enabled, unseen, un-
heard, to creep within a few feet of
thC Sliaii, OptH sDdtt WutIG HIS DTDIH-
er and Derek stood confronting each
other.
Its worse than useless to prolong
this discussion Oscar was saying,
with obviously forced calmness. 1.-THE
simple fact is that you have been prim.
ing yourself from your whisky-iask
all day. and are now bent upon trying
my patience to the utmost limit. Well,
you have reached it; / warn you OF
thatr'
Il don't care two straws for you, or
your warning. either" retorted Derek,
d%efiantly. "ADd IL you want my
straight opinion about you
II DON'T" interrupted the Major,
sterhly. "And if You are wise, o viii
| leave it unsaid, lest 1 forget that you
are merely an insolent boy and thrash
you within an inch Of your lifer'
AS he spoke, he turned, half-con.
temptuously, on his heel; and Derek,
apparently goaded to madness by
these words, instantly dealt him a
murderous blow upon the head with
the stock of his gun. which stretched
him senseless ON the sward.
Was it impulse alone. or an instant
aneously-concelved. diabolical design
which, a moment later, sent Stephens
weapon to his shoulder. and the con.
tents of the right barrel. at the dis.