The Sauk Centre herald., 1909-11-11


cause he'd lost his money, If he ever
had any, and she had none, and he
wanted to marry an heiress. How
ever, they automoblized him, or some
thing, in st. Petersburg last June"
"Auto-what did you say?" inquired
Mrs. Rushmore
KILLED by an automobile" ex-
planned Mr.. Van Torp gravely. "But
now 1 come to think, it wasn't that.
He got blown up by a bomb meant for
better man. 1t was quite instantan-
eous, I recollect. His head disap-
peared suddenly, and the greater part
OF him was scattered around, but
they found his pocket-book with his
cards and things, so they knew who
1t was. 1t was driven through some
body else's hat on the other side of
the street, wasn't it, Miss Dome?
Things must have been quite lively
just then, where it happened. I sup
posed you knew"
Mrs. Rushmore explained that she
had never heard any details.
Resides" said Mr.. Van Torp in an
swer, though not quite relevantly,
Everybody always calls her Lady
Maud instead of Countess Leven,'
which she has on her cards."
"She would naturally use the higher
title" observed Mrs. Rushmore rev.
erently.
well, now, about that" objected
Mr.. Van Torp, I'm bound to say
think the daughter of an English earl
as good as Russian count, anywhere
west of Siberia. I don't know how
they figure those things out at courts
when they have to balance 'em up for
seats at a dinner party, of course
! It's just my impression, that's all, as
business man. He's dead, anyway,
and one needn't make personal re-
marks about dead men. All the same,
| 1t was happy release for Lady Maud,
| and I doubt If she sits up all night
mourning for him. Have you been
out this afternoon, Miss Donne?"
He changed the subject with ex-
treme directness, and Mrs. Rushmore,
who was used to the dictatorial ways
of lions, took the hint submissively
enough, though she would have been
glad to discuss the relative and in
| trinsic values of the designations
Lady Maud" and Countess Leven."
But 1t was much more important that
the lion should be left alone with
Margaret as much as possible, and the
excellent lady therefore remembered
that she had something to do and left
them.
II had little talk with Kralinsky
before he left" said Van Torp, when
she was gone. 'He says he'll meet
us in Venice any time in the next few
days. He's just going to run over to
Vienna in his sudden-death-cart for
"a hours; then he'll go south, he says.
He ran me up to the hotel and
dropped me. I dare say you heard
the toots. I thought I saw Lady Maud
looking out of the window of your
room as got out"
"Yes," Margaret said. But how do
you know that is my window"
I'm the first place, I've counted the
windows. l felt a sort of interest in
knowing which was yours. And then,
I often see your maid opening the
shutters in the morning."
"Oh!" Margaret smiled. did you
notice anything unusual about Lady
Maud when you saw herr" she asked,
for she knew that he had good eyes.
"Since you mention it, thought she
looked as If she didn't feel quite up to
the mark-pale, 1 thought she was"
"Yes," Margaret said. She felt
Ill for moment, and l thought she
was going to faint. But it passed al
most directly, and she insisted on 60
ing for walk"
"Oh," mused Mr.. Van Torp, ''is that
SO? Well, dare say it was the best
thing she could do. I was telling you
about Kralinsky. He's not Levi Long
legs after all, and I'm not sure he was
ever in the west"
Il thought it sounded unlikely"
Margaret said.
81 asked him, just like that, in a
friendly way, and he thought a mo-
ment and made an effort to recollect,
and then he seemed quite pleased to
remember that I'd been Fanny and
he'd been Levi Longlegs,' and that he
used to whistle things out of 'Parsifap
by the fire of an evening"
"Well-but in that case" Marga-
ret stopped with an inquiring look.
"Just So" continued Van Torp, nod
ding. did you ever attend trial
and hear witness being cross-ex-
amined by lawyer who wants him to
| remember something, and he wants to
remember it himself, but can't be-
cause he never heard of it before in
his life? It's quite funny. The law
yer makes steps for him and puts his
| feet into them so that he gets along
nicely, unless the Judge happens to
wake up and kick, and then the little
| game stops right there, and somebody
laughs. Well, my talk with Kralinsky
was like that, only there was no
judge, so he went away happy; and
we're old friends now, and punched
cows on the same ranch, and he's
coming on my yacht. l only wonder
why he was SO anxious to remember
all that, and why he thought it would
be kind of friendly if l called him
Levi Longlegs again, and he called
| me Fanny Cook. 1 wonder! He says
he's still very fond of 'Parsifal,' and
Il