Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1911-08-10

was st Saiuell ana that the cottage was
covered with vines. but no further de-
tails We're discernible.
Suddenly IL light flashed ont from,
one or the windows. and saw "a wom-
AN moving about within. no doubt pre-
'iins supper. But at that moment. /
caught the sound of hurried footsteps
aions the path behind me and shrank
;tslue INTO the shadow of the trees lust
III lihe 10 avoid another woman whom
u.s. Sne "ashed past. l recognized as the
aafk-faced maid. She crossed the gar
deh without slack ening her pace and
.l'tefed the house. saw her approach
'he other woman. pause apparently to
speak Il word to her, and then the two
disappeared together.
WHAT Was happening within this
house: Was it here that Miss Law
.'lce mad found refuge? And as I
turned this question over and over. in,
my mind. staring refectivelv al the
ilghted window before me, it seemed
10 me more and more probable that I
lad already reached the end OF my
search. The fugitive must have escaped
ny some avenue screened from he
pupilc gaze, else she would surely have
neen hotlced. She must have known
Il place of refuge before She started.
a woman of her self-poise would NOT
rush wildly forth with no goal in view.
ANA. 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 there? Suppose | burst In upon
her, what could say? / could not ask
her to tell me the story-indeed, L would
not even know her II l met her face to
race. i must see the photograph. first,
which Curtiss had promised to leave
for me at the hotel.
Besides, | asked myself-and in this
matter. l confess, 1 was very willing
10 be convinced-would it 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, l could dare to APP
proach her. to show her how she had
wronged Burr Curtiss, to persuade her
to see him. 1t We're better for both
her and Curtiss that 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 it chilled me 10 think
OF. AT least. l would try to force no
entrance to the cottage now. | shrank
from any how of violence. Curtiss
would countenance nothing OF that sort.
10 approach the cottage now. while
the maid was within, would be a tacti-
q OOlu Oe 10 court ANU
She could easily prevent my seeing her
mistress-she would, no doubt. shut the
DOR in my face. Why should 1 show
her that 1 suspected Miss Lawrence's
place of refuge? Why put her on her
guard and urge the fugitive to farther
flight? o much wiser to wait until
the maid was absent. till l could make
then calmly n clearly lay the case
before her. Yes. decidedly. I would
wait. l even found it in my heart ia
regret that I had already showed the
maid SO much of my suspicious.
would better have kept them to myself.
Convinced by this last argument, l
made my way back to the street. and
as 1 passed the Lawrence grounds i
was impressed again by their extent
and excellent order. At the front gate
a curious crowd still fingered. staring
at he silent darllened house. whose
drawn blinds gave no hint OF life with
I'm. or listening to the knowing gossip
OF three or four alert young fellows
whom l 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?" l asked, after an unimportant
question or two.
The Kingdom sisters" he answered
"The youngest n works i'm the Law
renee house-a maid or something
The crowd had collected about ut
and was listening with ears intent:
caught a quick glitter of interest iy
the eyes Of the reporters: so I ended
the talk abruptly by asking the way to
the Sheridan house.
Right down the street, SIR he Sd id
You can't miss it-a big square build.
ing or the corner"
AS l thanked him and turned away.
caught The cry Of newsboys down the
street. and in a moment they were
among the crowd and were selling thetJ
papers right n left. Both the Leader
and the Journal, stirred to unusual en-.
terprise by the days events, had evi.
IDENTIFY made use of the largest anl
blacklist type at their command to ado
emphasis to their headlines. / bough
copies of both papers, and hurried or
to h Sheridan. for ! was becoming
10 lunch that day. l found the hote
without difficulty and after registering
sat down in the Office and opened tn,
| papers. The reporters, no doubt, would
save me a lot Of trouble.
The scene at the church had beer
even more sensational than I had pic,
tured it, for evidently the Lawrence.
were a more important family social!
than I had imagined, and the list O
guests had been correspondingly large
They had gathered. had gossiped. hat
admired the decorations and criticised
each others gowns; a murmur of salts
faction had greeted the whispered an.
nouncement that the groom and hi
best man were waiting in the study
the organist played a selection or tw,
and then stopped, expectant. ready t
begin the wedding march. The ring
ing of bells and blowing of whistles an
nounced the noon hour. but the brid,
had not arrived. Then, from some
where. came the sudden whisper tina