The herald-advance. (Milbank, S.D.) 1890-1922, 1907-09-20
or Dead?'
The Strange Disappearance of
Gerald RathbOne.
~ GUY THoRNk
ey GUY THoRNk

smoking a cigar and feeling that the
troublesome and unpleasant episode
was well over.
Thus Mr.. Eustace C~harliewood, man.
about-town, made his sudden exit from
Vanity Fair. Thus Sir William
Gouldesbrough, F. r. s., had another
secret to lock up In the somber re-
cesses of his brain.
During the three days that he had
been forced to remain in Brighton by
the tragedy Sir William had seen
something Of the two ladies at the Pal.
ace hotel.
Both Lady Poole and Marjorie, dur
ing that time, had come insensibly to
lean upon him and to ask his advice
about this and that. A terrible gap had
been created in Marjorie's life, and,
though Gouldesbrough could not All it,
he came at the right moment to com
fort and sustain.
Before he returned to London, Sir
William had gradually glided into a
new relation with the girl to whom he
had been engaged. He found his pow
er over her had increased. She was
mora respondent and subservient in
her great trouble than she had ever
been during the time when she was
promised to be his wife and he must
sue for favors.
And Gouldesbrough noticed also
that. though the girls grief seemed
in no way ~lessened, her hopes OF yer
seeing Gerald Rathbone again seemed
to be d%windling. The cunning words
that he had spoken, the little hint Of a
vulgar Gree, was perhaps beginning to
terminate within Marjorie's brain.
She was too loyal to believe any such
statement, but, nevertheless, 1t had an
unconscious influence with her. At
any rate, she began to cease discus
sion of the mystery, and there was a
limiting Of a coming resignation to the
hard and impenetrable fact.
This at least was what Sir William
Gouldesbrough deduced. Trained
watcher of the mind and human i'm
pulse as he was, psychologist of mar
velous knowledge and penetration, he
began to see, or SO he thought to him
self, that all was not yet lost; that 1t
might well be that the events of the
last few weeks would some day-not
yet or soon, but some ~day-place him
upon a higher pedestal than ever be-
fore.
On the evening Of the fourth day az
ter his arrival Sir William Gouldes-
brough returned to town.
In the afternoon he had driven with
Lord Landsend and Percy Alemare to
the cemetery.
It had been a cold and clustering af-
ternoon, and the plain hearse and the
single carriage that followed it had
trotted through the semi-deserted
streets until the graveside was reach
ed. The shivering vicar Of a neighbor-
ing church, whose turn 1t was to take
the cemetery duty for the week, had
said the words of the Burial Service,
and in some half an hour all that was
mortal Of Mr.. Eustace Charliewood
had disappeared forever from human
ken.
He would never stroll up Bond street
In his fur coat any more Never again
would he chat with the head waiter
upon the important question Ct a lunch.
No longer would MI. Proctor, the mas
sour, set the little rubber hammers to
beat out the lines of dissipation upon
| that weak and handsome face. MI.
Eustace Charliewood had resigned his
membership Of the st. James street
clubs, and had passed out Of Vanity
Fair into the night.
After the funeral Gouldesbrough
went to say good-by to Lady Poole and
Marjorie.
His last words to them were these:
n shall go on" he said, doing all
that I can In every possible way. And
everything that I do I will let you
know. and II I can discover the slight
est clue to this terrible mystery you
shall hear It at once. But don't buoy
yourself up with false hopes, that is
all l ask. None Of US can say what the
future may have in store. but for my
part, I have not much hope. It may
seem q cruel thing for me to say, Mar
jorie, but I think It Is my duty to say
II. Bear up and be brave, and remem
Der that I am always close to do any
thing l can In any and every way to
help you and your mother"
And when he had gone tho two Ia
dies. sitting in the twilight before thu
glowing fro In the open hearth Of the
hotel sitting room, had felt that some
thing, some one who had become nee
essary to them. had departed.
Sir William Gouldesbrough Travelled
up to Victoria in q Pullman car HI
sat In his armchair before a little table
on which was a pile Of evening papers
During the first ten minutes he had
glanced through all Of them. and only
n part OF the news columns claimed
his attention-that was the portion o.
the paper devoted to the "Rathbons
Mystery"
Flo noticed that already tho clamol
and agitation were beginning to die
down. The shrswd purveyors Of news
were beginning to realize that mys
terry Wa not likely to be solved. and
that. the public appetite was satisfied
with Il.
The two columns or more which hat