The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-08-29

tangled skein. ''yrhen do you mean 20
assert that your son-Paul Baker
went about the world calling himself
Philip de Mountford?"
That must ave been 1t, sir, 1 think"
tDeceiving people?"%
Aye! e was ever a bit O. no good"
You think ne imposed upon his lord
ship, the Earl Of Radclyffe? hA
"'E must 'av done, sir. mustn't q,
now2g SEEM as 'ow is. lordship must
ave beer tool In" "
You helped him in the deception, I
s~uppose?"
ME, sir? Lor' bless We, no! Me an
fs mother Amt clever enough for such
things! We knew nothin' Of PauIs
doin's, and o allus went rs W way,
SIR"
But at least you knew that this
fraud was going on?"'s # a4 .u "
mot exactly, sir" ~ ".@Ht#A -
l. How do you mean, not exactly?'
retorted the coroner sharply. t"You
seem to be unconscious Of the fact
that this story which you are telling
the jury Is a very serious matter in
deed. If 1t Is true, you are not only
making a grave accusation against
your dead son, but with this ccusa
ton o may be involving yourself or
some other m OF your family in
an exceedingly serious charge OF fraud
the penalty for which, If proved, would
be very severe indeed, On the other
hand. If the story you tell is nothing
but a cock -and-bull tale, which fur
their evidence would presently demol-
ish, then you lay yourself open to a !.
charge of perjury n of conspiracy to
defeat the ends of justice. / have
thought best to give you this word Of
warning-the last which you will get
from me-because really, you do no
seem to be fully conscious Of h ex-
IRENE gravity Of you position"
The bricklayer from Clapham had
listened to this admonition, delivered
with solemn emphasis and no small
measure OF severity, with a kind of
stolid indifference. He retained his
humble, apologize attitude, but clearly
the %coroner's threats did not affect his
simple equanimity.
Il thank you sir. kindly" he said
when the coroner had ceased speaking,
but 1 can't clip 1t. Paul would go on
Is w way. Ask is mother there. n
never would be spoken to, wouldn't
Paul. And me- and is mother allus
said ed come to mischief some day"
Did you know anything at all of this
fraud" 2
No. sir. We knew nothin' Of it real
ly. You sec Paul left 'ome nearly two
year ago come Christmas. 'E didn't
Then you last saw your son alive
two years ago?"
Yes. sir. That's the last me and Is
mother seed Of i'm. Christmas day,
sir, twas two year ago nearly. Paul
g said then ed 'ad enough Of knock
in about in London. e was goin'
abroad. e a that's what e said. And
q left 'ome. sir. the next day. Bank
'oloday 'twere. and that's the last me
and is mother seed of i'm"
He had told this with all the simple
fatalism peculiar to his class. The
son went abroad" and abroad to a
ClaDham laborer is a very vague term
indeed. 1t e so many things; geo.
graphically 1t means any place beyond
h l2-mile radius from home; the Anti
podes are abroad" but so Is York
shire. Domestically 1t means that the
traveller passes out of the existence OF
those that are left behind as surely as
II he had stepped into the grave. FL
nancially. 1t means a mouth less to
feed. seeing that the intending traveller
Ia nearly always a Wastrel at home.
In any event the proposed journey
abroad" is taken with quiet philos-
ophY by family and friends. The trav~
eler starts for abroad as easily, as
simply, as he would for the nearest
public house He has no impedimenta,
nothing to burden him or to cause him
regret. Strangely enough, no n ever
has anv idea where the money comes
from that pays for the journey
abroad" The traveller being a wastrel
never has any himself. and the family
is invariably too poor to provide 1t.
But the wastrel goes. nevertheless.
n lie within the narrowed pre-.
cincts OF the family circle goes on Just
rs 1t had done before. Sometimes news
comes from the traveler-a picture post
card from abroad" usually q request
for pecuniary assistance. Seldom does
good news arrive; still more seldom
does the traveller come back home.
Bet 1t is all very simple. Nothing to
make a fuss about.
Then" said the coroner. The didn't
tell you where he mean to go?"
NO. sir" replied Jim Baker, "he
just was going abroad"
D you know where he went?"
mo. SIR"
Did you ever try to find out?"
mo. sir. Where 'ad been the use?'
Where indeed? The world is so large!
and the Baker family so insignificant
II didn' write to you"
n sir"
Nor communicate with you in any
way?"
No. sir"
You had nc idea what had become
of him."
Not until last summer, SIR"
What happened them"
His sister. sir. our Emily, she was
out walkin' with Harry ~Smith-young
Smith from next door to us, strand
she was down in the west end o. Lon
don with i'm one day. n 'oo should
they meet sir. but Paul"
Continued Next Week.)