Kingsbury County independent. (DeSmet, Kingsbury County, S.D.) 1894-1929, 1911-09-01
AFFAIR AT
TT " By Burton E. Stevenson,
Holiday Case" Etc
New York-Henry Holt s Co-Isg.

her, Remember, she was in her we'd
ding dress. and there were probably a
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, IT believe
you're In on this thing yourself
Not for publication"
Agreed. Now let's have it."
Well" I 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.
Amy man would think So" he said.
HOY are you going about it2"
Tn going to take advantage Of the
hint you just gave me-"
And go to the Kingdom house? ?"
Yes. l believe Miss Lawrence is
there, myself. I thought so last night
when | came to it after following that
path through the grove"
81 you'd discovered II, tool. Well,
I wish you luck. OF course, we may be
all wrong. 1 don't believe there are any
other pointers I can give you." he add
ed, or I'd be glad TO. 1 suppose you
saw Mrs. L~awrence?"
"Oh yes"
How was she affected"
said.
He gazed at me with narrowed eyes.
Has 1t occurred to you, Lester" he
said, at last, that Miss Lawrence may
not have gone away Of her own accord
at all; 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 2"
Yes; I'd thought of It. 1 even put
II to Mrs. Lawrence"
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.' y
suggested Godfrey. Then she would
have neither screamed nor struggled
Last night" I said. so was half-in-
clined to believe that something of the
sort had happened. I'd forgotten one
fact which absolutely disproves il. She
left a note behind her-or, at least,
wrote it and SEN it back after she ran
away"
"Ah-she did?'
"Yes-a note saying the marriage
was impossible, though her love was
unaltered, and that Curtiss wasn't to
attempt to find her.
Godfrey sat suddenly upright with
grim c~ountenance.
"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 turne 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
your"
NO" I answered frankly. And I've
tried mighty hard to find another"
Let's go back a bit. The discovery
whatever it was-was made at the
last moment"
'Yes-at the moment she left the
decorator and started upstairs to get
her VEIL
WAS it made accidentally?
81 don't know"
But / do. 1t was not accidentally
it was by design. Things don't happen
accidentally, just in the nick of time"
mo-" / agreed, they don't"
1T was his revenge" continued Cod
frey, with growing excitement. He
wanted to get even, and he waited till
the last moment. 1t was certainly
artistic"
IL le really w dlIltu " CRUSH nGT, Il
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 didn't want to get even,
then; he wanted her back. SO he sent
1T wasn't a letter. Perhaps 1t was a
telegram"
mo, 1t wasn't a telegram looked
that up. Are you sure 1t wasn't a let
teri"
Yes. The morning mail was deliy-
cred shortly after Q. She was happy as
usual until the moment of her disap-
~pearance, two hours later. If 1t wasn't
a letter or a telegram, he must have
come in person."
Godfrey sat for a moment with intent
face.
Il hardly think So" he said, at last.
Some one would have noticed a
stranger, and I made special Inquiries
on that point, though 1t was a lover I
was looking for, not a husband. /
rather imagined that there was another
man In the case, and that, at the last
moment, she decided to marry him and
ran away to 10 It,"
mo" I said decidedly, "she was In
love with ENTHUSIASTICALLY In love
with him"
We'll, lover or husband, I don't be-
lieve he came I'm person. 7 think II
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 II. Have you ever
seen Miss Lawrence"
"No-not even her photograph. I
tried to get n and failed" he added,
with rueful countenance.
shes a beautiful woman-she's
more than that-she's a good woman.
There's something Madonna-li like about
her"
Most of the famous Madonnas." he
said. smiling. however virginia. In ap-
pearance. were anything but Madonna
like In Observation-Disclosures del Sarto's.
for instance"
With a little shiver, I remembered
Mr.. Royce's phrase-it was to the del
Sarto Madonna he had herl
Could ! be wrong In my estimate Of
her, after all?
There's no other theory will .xcIatn