Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-05-02

no one to see"
He took her hand-that neatly
sloved, small hand of hers-and put it
under his arm. For one momen it
seemed as il he would kiss that tiny
and tahtalizing place just below the
numb where the pink palm shows in
the opening of the glove. Luke was
not a demonstrative lover, he was shy
ana English and abrupt; cut this
m~orning-was 1T the breath of spring
in the air. he scent of the Roman
hyaclnths in that bed over there, or
merely the shadow of a tiny cloud on
the uniform blue OF his life's horizon
that gave a certain rugged softness to
MS touch, as his hand fingered over
that neat glove which nestled securely
in among the folds of his coat sleeve?
Now" She said simply.
Have you" he asked with abrupt ir-
reievance. read your paper all through
this morning."
Not all through. Only the import
And o saw nothing about a claim
TO a peerage?"
Nothing"
well that's all about it. A man has
sprung up from nowhere in particular,
who claims to be my Uncle Arthur's
son. and, therefore, heir presumptive to-
the title and ALL"
Luke heaved a deep sigh. as if with
this brief IL ungrammatical statement,
MS own heart had been u~nburdened OF
a tiresome load.
Your Uncle Arthur?' she repeated
somewhat bewildered.
Yes. You never knew him. did
you?"
No. she said, II never knew him.
though as a baby 1 must have seen
him. l was only three, 1 think, when
ne died. But l never heard that he
had been married. L am sure father
never knew
Nor did l. nor did Uncle Rad, nor
any of us. The whole thing is either
a thundreboh or an inposture."
Tel me-" she said. "a little more
clearly, Luke dear, will you? 1 am feel
ing quite muddled." And now it was
She who led the way to the isolated
seat beneath h a group of silver birch,
whose baby leaves trembled beneath
n rough kiss of the cool April breeze.
Ihey sat down together and on the
gravelled path in front OF them a robin
hopped half shyly, half impertinently,
about and gazed with tiny. inouisitiye
eyes ON the doings of these big folk.
All o them the twitter Of bird
throats filled the air with it's magic,
Its hymn to the reawakened earth, and
crowned In this pleasing solitude the
distant sounds Of the busy CITY that
seemed SO far away from this secluded
nook inhabited by birds and lowers
and by two dwellers in Fata Morgana's
land.
Tell me first said Louisa, in her
most prosy, most matter of fact tone Of
voice, ':all that is known about your
Uncle Arthur"
Wen. up to now. I individually knew
very little about him. He was the next
eldest brother to Uncle Rad, and my
father was the youngest Of all. When
uncle Rad succeeded to the title, Ar
n u was heir-presumptive Of course.
But as VOl know ha djad-oC uvo 30,
posed unmarried-19 years ago., and my
poor dear father was killed in the hunt
ing held the following year. I was a
mere kid then and the others were
babies-orphans the lot of us. MY
mother died when Edith was born.
Uncle Rad was said to be a confirmed
bachelor. He took us all. to live with
him n was father. mother. elder
brother, elder sister to us all. Bless
hint"
Luke paused abruptly. and Louisa too
was silent. Only the song OF a thrush
soaring upward to the skies called for
n a blessing which neither OF them at
that ONE could adequately evoke.
Yes" said Louisa at last, Il knew
all that"
Lord Radclyfe and his people were
all OF the same world as herself. She
knew all about the present mans
touching affection for the children of
his youngest brother, but more espec-
Tally for Luke or whom he bestowed an
amount of owe and tender care which
would have shamed many a father by
Its unselfish intensity. That affection
was q beautiful trait in an otherwise
not very a character. a
~! daresay." resumed Luke after a
little while. that I have been badly
trough up. ! mean In this way, that
fl the whole story is true-if Uncle
Arthur did marry and did have a ION,
than ! should have to go n shift for
Edith. OF course Uncle Rad would do
what he could for us, but I should no
longer be his heir-and We couldn't 20
on living at Grosvenor Square and"
Aren't you rambling on a little too
fast. dear?" said Louisa gently, whilst
n beamed with an almost motherly
snlile-the smile that q woman e
when h means to pacify and to COM
fort-on b troubled face OF the younR
man.
"Of course I am" he replied more
calmly, but I can't help 1t. For some
days now I've had q sort of feeling
that something was going to happen
-that-well, that things weren't going
to 30 right. And this morning when
I got up. I made up my mind that I
would tell you."
when did you hear first and from
whom?'
'.The nrst thing We heard was last
abroad for Uncle Rad. Il hadn't the
private mark on Il. % Mr.. Warren
opened II along with the rest Of the
correspondence He showed II to me.