The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1907-05-23
The Holiday Case
BURTON E. STEVENSON
copgrgh by Henry Holt
sE. Copyright 1903 by Henry.ror a Co uu~u--uu-z-u
BY BURTON NE. STEVENSON.

sieur Holiday. He learned--oh. that
he was ver' rich--what you call a man
of millions-and his daughter--my
daughter, monsieur--was living still.
From that moment he was like a man
posses At once he formed his plan,
| building / know not what hopes on
1t. He drilled us for two years
In speaking the English; he took us for
six months to Londres that we might
better learn. Day after day, we took
| our lessons there-always and. always
| English Cecile learned YER well,
monsieur; but l not so well. as you
can see---I was too old. Then, at last,
we came to New York and my daugh-
ter-thls one--was sent to see Monsieur
! Holiday, while i was directed that I
write to Celeste--to Mademoiselle Hol-
lady. She came that YER afternoon"
she continued, "and / told her that 1t
was / who was her mother He was
with me and displayed to her the pa
! pers of adoption. She could not be
convinced. He talked to her as an an
| gel--oh, he could seem one when he
chose--he told her that I was in pow
erty-he made her to weep, which was
what he desired. She promised. to
| my heart went out to her. Then, just
as she had risen to start homeward,
| in Celeste came, crying sobbing
stained with blood"
She shuddered and clasped her hands
| before her eyes. ..
But you have said it was not mur-
| der, madame" 1 said to the younger
woman. ."#
Nor was It," she cried. Let me
| tell you, monsieur. / reached the great
| building which my husband had pointed
out to me; l went up in the lift;
| entered the office, but saw no one.
went on through an open door an9
nI1 ,tN
| Inquired If Mr.. Holiday was the re.
The old man glanced at me and bowed
| toward another door. saw 1t was
private office and entered it. Tbs
door swung shut behind me. There was
another old man sitting at a desk
sharpening a pencil"
lis 1t you, Frances? he aslSed.
NO." l said, stepping before him.
1t is her sister, Monsieur Holla-
day!' ..,.A ....
He stared up at me with such a
look of dismay and anger on his face
that / was fairly frightened; then, In
the same instant, before could draw
breath, before could say another word,
his face grew purple, monsieur, and
| he fell forward on his desk, on his
| hand, on the knife, which was clasped
| In II. / tried to check the blood, but
I could not, 1t poured forth in such a
stream. / knew not what to do; was
distracted and in a frenzy, I left the
| place and hurried to my lodgings. That
Is the truth, monsieur, believe me-"
Il do believe you," said; and she
turned again to the window to hide her
tears. s...
1T was then" went on her mother,
that that man yonder had another i'm
| spiration. Before IL had been only
what you call-blackmail-a few
thousands, perhaps pension; now 1t
was something more-he was playing
| for greater stake. do not know
| all that he planned. He found Celeste
suspected Of having killed her father;
he must get her release at any cost;
so he wrote a note
Yes" cried. Yes, Of course;
see. Miss Holiday under arrest was
| beyond his reach"
"Yes," she nodded. 80 he wrote
note-oh, you should have seen him
in those days! He was like some fur
ious wild beast. But after she was
| set free, Celeste did not come to us
suspected us that she wish to have
nothing more to do with us; so Victor
commanded that / write another letter
| imploring her, offering to explain"
She stopped a moment to control her
self. "Ah, when I think of it, She
and put IT on Cecile. She never left
the place again until the carriage stop
| ped to take her to the. boat. AS for
us-we were his slaves--he guided each
| step--he seemed to think OF everything
Ito be ready for everything-he plan
ned and planned"
There was no need that she should
tell me more-the whole plot lay bare
before me-simple enough now that
| understood 1t. and carried out with
what consummate finish! @
~"one thing more" I said. THE
gold" IN.
She drew key from her pocket and
gave 1t to me. ys.
1T is in box UPSTAIRS" she said.
This is the key. We have not touched
| it,"
| I took the key and followed her to
the floor above. The box, OF heavy oak
bound with iron, with At lmship and
| express labels fresh upon II, stood in
| one corn n. I unlocked II and threw
back the lid. Package upon package
| lay in it, just as they had come from
the treasury. / locked the box
| again, and put the key In my pocket
"Of course" said, as / turned to
go, Il can only repeat your story to
my companion. He aid Miss Holiday
will decide what steps to take But /
| am sure they will be merciful"
They bowed without replying, and
went out along the path between the
trees, leaving them alone with their
dead. T..
| And II was Of the dead thought last
and more sorrowfully; a man of char
acter, of force, OF fascination. How I
could have liked him!