The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1911-08-24
AFFAIR AT
~ PETH By Burton 3, Stevenson,
Holiday Casa" Ec
New Ymk-Eenry Holt & co-nZ
New York-Henry Holt & co.-1sog.

soHlepooy would nave been sure to see.
her Remember, h was in her we'd
GOOD many people standing around
watching the house, as they always do
at these fashionable weddings"
Perhaps something in my face be-
trayed me; at any rate, he looked at
me with a sudden intent interest.
See here, Lester" he said, "I believe
you're IN on this thing YOURSELF
NOT for publication"
Agreed. Now let's have it."
Wen / explained, I'm working for
Curtiss. I'm trying to find Miss Law
renee. He thinks he's entitled to an
explanation
Godfrey nodded quickly.
ANY maj would think So" he said.
HOW are you going about it?"
I'm going to take advantage Of the
mint you just gave me-"
And go to the Kingdom house?"
there, myself. I thought so last night
when came to it after following that
path through the grove."
so you'd discovered 1t, too! Well.
l wish you luck. OF course, we may be
all wrong. I don't believe there are any
olher pointers l can give YOU" he add
ed. "or I'd be glad to. sllnnose Won
saw Mrs. Lawrence?"
ooh yes"
How was she affected?"
NOT SO deeply as you'd expect" 1
He gazed at me with narrowed eyes.
said, at last, that Miss Lawrence may
not nave gone away of her own accord
at ali; that there may be a plot against
her; that she was forced to go, or
perhaps even shut up in some room in
the Lawrence house"
Yes; I'd thought of 1t. 1 ever put
III TO MI 1Qt I q ON -
And what did she say?"
She laughed at me. She said her
daughter was a strong girl, who
wouldn't let herself be abducted with
out a struggle, and that a single scream
would have alarmed the house"
But suppose she'd been drugged."
suggested Godfrey. Then she would
nave neither screamed nor struggled"
Las night" I said, "4 was half-in-
clined to believe that something of the
sort had happened. I'd forgotten one
fact which absolutely disproves it. She
left a note behind her-or, at least.
wrote 1t and sent it back after she ran
away"
"Ah-she did,"
was impossible, though her love was
unaltered, and that Curtiss wasn't to
attempt to find her"
Godfrey sat suddenly upright with
grim countenance.
Then there's only one explanation
of IT, he said. There's only one thing
could make a girl drop everything and
run away like that-.only one thing in
the world. She's already married, and
her first husbands turned up"
I'D thought of that, too; but her
mother swears her daughter never had
a love affair previous to this one"
of course she'd say so. Has any
other possible explanation occurred to
| you?'
NO" answered frankly. "And I've
tried mighty hard to find another"
Let's go back a bit. The discovery
last moment"
"Yes-at the moment she left the
decorator and started upstairs to get
her Veil"
Was it made accidentally?"
Il don't know"
But I do. 1t was not accidentally
it was by design. Things don't happen
accidentally, just in the nick of time"
No" l agreed, they don't"
ut was his revenge" continued Cod
frey, with growing excitement. He
wanted to get even, and he waited till
the last 1t was certainly
artistic
IF he really wanted to crush her" I
suggested, my lips trembling with the
horror of the thought, he'd nave wait
ed a little longer"
Godfrey stared at me with glittering
eyes.
You're right" he agreed, after a mo-
ment. HE admit want to get even,
then; he wanted her pack. So he sent
a letter.
1T wasn't a letter. Perhaps it was a
telegram"
No, it wasn't a telegram looked
that up. Are you sure it wasn't a let
teri"
Yes. The morning mail was deliv-
cred shortly after 8. She was happy as
usual until the ONE Of her disap-
pearance, two hours later. If it wasn't
a letter or a telegram, he must have
come in person"
Godfrey sat for a moment with intent
face.
II hardly think So" he said, at last.
Some one would have noticed a
stranger, and I made special inquiries
on that point, though it was a lover I
was looking for. not a husband.
rather imagined that there was another
man in the case, n that, at the last
moment, h decided to marry him and
ran away to do It,"
NO" 1 said decidedly, "she was in
love with Curtiss-pass!onately IN love
with him."
We'll, lover or husband, I don't be-
much more probable that the warning
came from inside the house"
From the maid" I suggested,
Precisely" he nodded. From the
maid
Then, suddenly, I recalled the sweet
face, the clear gaze
TITS a pretty theory, Godfrey" I said:
but I don't believe it. Have you ever
seen Miss Lawrence?"
"No-not even her photograph. /
tried to get one and failed" he added,
with rueful countenance.
She's a beautiful woman-she's
more than that-she's a good woman.
There's something Madonna-like about
her"
Most of the famous Madonnas." he
said, smiling, however virginia. in ap-
pearance, were anything but Madonna
like in behavior-Andrea del Sarto's,
for instance"
With a little SILVER, I remembered
MI. Royce's phrase-it was to the del
Sarto Madonna he had her!
Could I be wrong in my estimate of
her, after all?
There's no other theory will explain
her flight" he repeated. "Presuming,
OF course, that she was sane"
She was very sane" I said. in a low
voice. She was a self-controlled, we'll
balanced woman"
And tina she still loves c,,rtiesn