Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-08-11
AFFAIR AT
TT ARETH By Burton E. Stevenson.
Honsday Case Etc @#@
New Yok-Henry Holt g. co-rM
New York-TIenry Holt q Co.-fsoz.

house? Was 1t here that Miss Law
renee had found refuge? And as I
turned this question over and over In
my mind. staring rehectively at the
lighted window before me, II seemed
to me more and more probable that /
had already reached the end OF my
search. The fugitive must have escaped
by some avenue screened from the
public gaze, else she would surely have
been noticed. She must have known
a place OF refuge before she started;
a woman of her self-poise would not
rush wildly forth with no goal ~ view.
And, lastly, that goal must have been
close at hand, or she could not have
escaped discovery.
The house before me answered all
Of these conditions. but how could I
make certain that Miss Lawrence was
really there3 Suppose ! burst in upon
her, what could / say7 / could not ask
her to tell me the story-indeed, I would
not even know her IL / met her face to
face. I must see the photograph, first,
which Curtiss had promised to leave
for me at the hotel.
Besides, I asked myself-and in this
matter, ! confess, / was very willing
to be convinced-would II not be wiser,
more merciful, to wait till morning, till
the first shock was past, till she had
time to rally a little, to get her calm
ness back? Then, I could dare to ap-
proach her, to show her how she had
wronged Burr Curtiss, to persuade her
to see him. 1t were better for both
her and Curtiss hat they should not
meet for a day or two; they would have
need Of all their courage; all their self
control, for that meeting must reveal
a secret which II chilled mo to think
Of. At least, I would try to force no
entrance to the cottage now. i shrank
from any show of violence. Curtiss
would countenance nothing of that sort.
To approach the cottage now. while
the maid was within, would be a tacti-
cal error-would be to court failure.
She could easily prevent my seeing her
mistress-she would, no doubt, shut the
door In my face. Why should / show
her that I suspected Miss Lawrence's
place of refuge2 Why put her on her
guard and urge the fugitive to farther
the maid was absent, till I could make
sure Of seeing Miss Lawrence, and
then calmly and clearly lay the case
before her. Yes, decidedly, I would
wait I wen found Il tn ,ay heart TO
regret that I had already showed the
maid so much of my suspicious. I
would better have kept them to myself.
Convinced by his last argument, /
made my way back to the street, n
as I passed the Lawrence grounds 1
was impressed again by their extent
and excellent order. At the front gate
a curious crowd still fingered, staring
at the sileat darkened house, whose
drawn blinds gave no hint of life with
in, or listening to the knowing gossip
of three or four alert young fellows
whom I recognized as reporters. There
was still a policeman there, and he was
quite willing to be drawn into talk
to tell all he knew, and much that he
did not know.
Who lives in that cottage back yon-
der?" I asked, after an unimportant
question or two.
The Kingdom sisters" he answered.
The youngest one works In the Law
renee house-a maid or something"
The crowd had collected about us
and was listening with ears intent; /
caught a quick glitter of interest in
the eyes Of the reporters; so / ended
the talk abruptly by asking the way TO
the Sheridan house.
Right down the street, sir" he said.
You can't miss it-a big square build
ing on the corner"
AS / thanked him and turned away. I
caught the cry Of newsboyS down the
street, and in a momen they were
among the crowd and were selling their
papers right and left. Both the Leader
ana TIE OuIIdL, SllIISu 10 uHuSudI Ell
terprise by the days events, had evil
IDENTIFY made use OF the largest and
blacklist type at their command to add
emphasis to their headlines. / bought
copies of both papers, and hurried on
to the Sheridan, for / was becoming
disagreeably conscious that / had eaten
no lunch that day. / found the hotel
without difficulty and after registering,
sat down in the office and opened the
va ,NarS Tho rnnnrtarc No dnl,ht upr1lI
save me a lot Of trouble.
The scene at the church had been
even more sensational than I had pic
tured it, for evidently the Lawrences
were a more important family socially
tina / had imagined, n the list of
guests had been correspondingly large.
They had gathered, had gos.iped, had
admired the decorations and criticised
each others gowns; a murmur of salts
faction had greeted the whispered an
nouncement that the groom n his
best man were waiting in the study;
the organist played a selection or two
and her stopped, expectant, ready to
begin the wedding march. The ring
ing OF bells and blowing of whistles an
nounced the noon hour, but the bride
had not arrived. Then, from some
where, came the sudden whisper tina
| something was wrong. A shiver ran
through the crowd as two carriages
drew up at the church door. Heads
were craned and a sigh OF relief ran
| around as the bridesmaids were seen
to alight. But where was the bride?
| There was no bride! The bride had
disappeared!
UneasIness changed to wonder, won
| der to astonishhment, as the details
were gradually CLEANED from the ex-
carnations of the excited young wom-
en-; tongues began to wag, innocently
at first, then, inevitably, with a touch
Of malice, for the brides action had
been a direct affront to all these peo-
| pie. Many of them. usually well bred,
| waited In the hope of catching a
glimpse of the groom's face as he hur-
ried away. Both he and Mrs. Law
renee had been protected from the re-
porters, but the decorator and some of
| the Lawrence servants had evidently
made the most Of their opportunities,
| for the papers a the details OF the
| disappearance substantially as / had
learned them. And nobody had been
found who had seen the bride leave the
house. or had caught a glimpse OF her
during her fight.
That was the gist of the information