The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-07-18
CHAPTER XXI.
HAVE ANOTHER CIGAR.

CHAPTER XXI.
HAVE ANOTHER CIGAR.
Well. William. what do o think of
The two men had sat in silence for
quite a considerable time after Fred
erick Power had marched out of the
room. Colonel Harris buried in thought
was IN no hurry to talk things over.
Sir Thomas Eyder-a very busy man
was the more impatient OF the two.
I must tell YOU" he said, seeing
that his brotherinlaw seemed disin-
clined to speak, that man Travers,
as soon as Power had pointed Luke out
to him, went n rang the bell at Rad
slyffe,s house and quickly enough es-
taplished y q u that the man
VINO had just entered 1t was Mr.. Luke
de Mountford. I tell you this now, SO
as TO dlsabuse your mind one and for
al! In case you should imagine that
this might be a case of mistaken iden-
tlty. Moreover you yourself know and
nave admitted to me that Luke's inten-
tlon was to seek out his uncle and his
cousin at the Veterans club, after he
parted from you at 8 o'clock last
night"
identity"
YOU" rejoined the other, were
thinking of Luke, and so am I. I
have thought little Of any one
else since first the crime was re-
ported to me last night. And long
before Travers cleaned h outlines Of
the story which Power has just ampli-
ned for US, l vaguely guessed at the
broad lines Of it. Now tina 1 know it
IN all its details. 1 can see the whole
scene In the lobby of the Veterans club
peIore me. o may believe me or not
as you like, but as a matter of fact /
know quite a good deal about Luke de
Mountford. l have often met him, of
course, and though we have never been
very 1ntlmate-for 1 am a busy man
and have but little time for intimacy
with my fellow men-I have had many
opportunities of studying him. He has
a very curious power of self control
almost an abnormal one I call it. and
a morbid hatred Of public scenes or
candal. This, Of course, he shares
with a great many men Of his class,
and his self control is all the more re-
markable as he is not by any means
the impressive young man about town
which he pretends to be. Well, that
same power, suppose, stood him in
club. In Powers picturesque p~arlance
there was murder in his eye.' OF
course, he had been provoked beyond
bounds Of endurance, and if he had
rushed at Philip de Mountford and
strangled him then and there, no one
would have been astonished. I should"
continued Sir Thomas with emphasis.
because 1t would not nave been like
the Luke whom I had studied. The
picture Of w gentlemen at fisticuffs
ike a pair Of navvies would not have
been an ed1fying one, and Luke-as 1
know him-would above all wish not
to make a spectacle Of himself before
the hall porter or before a crowd in
the ante-room of a second rate club.
He naturally-for that sort Of thing be-
comes second nqtllra--r11l1nI ;~1ra
together n walked out into the
street."
You must not think for a moment
thai Sir Thomas Ryder was h%abitually
a ~talkattve man. Englishmen of his
class n type are rarely laxative, and
Sir Thomas position and occupation
rendered him less communicative than
most. But Colonel Harris and he had
peen brother officers, friends long be-
fore family ties were closely knit by
marriage, and he considered the pres
ent crisis a very serious one.
he a had enough to do with crime
In the past years since he had OBJ
tanned the interesting post which he
now occupied, but with a crime
which affected him personally as this
one did. Luke de Mountford was, of
course, nothing to him, except in con-
nection with Louisa Harris. But this
was a strong tie. Louisa was his own
wires niece; she was the daughter of
q 1AlSAO, VI d UTOIIST OII1Cef. NO one
VINO is not In some amer or other in
touch with military men can have the
slightest idea Of how much those two
magic words mean: brother officer"
what magnetism lies in them: what APP
peal they make to all that is most loyal,
most willing, most helpful in a man.
Sir Thomas felt that the mud Of
l~rretrieVable disgrace which wa1 bound
to smirch Luke de Mountford would
in no small measure rebound on
Louisa too. Instinctively, too, all his
sensibllities recoiled against the idea
of a gentleman, one of his own caste.
being ragged in this peculiarly oath
some mlre. 1t seemed impossible that
that type of man should commit a
murder-a murder-just an ordinary,
brutal, commonplace murder, such as
the rough and umbI herd of human
lty commit when under the stress of
vulgar passions: greed, avarice, jeal-
ousy. 1t was this ~juxtaposition of the
mean and sordid against his own class
mat reVolted Sir Thomas Ryder. He
was loyal to his brother officer in his
e~ndeavor to induce him to keep out
OF all that mud which would be scat
tered all round presently, when the
papers came out with their sensational
headlines; but he vas also-perhaps
more so-loyal to his caste: his was
the esprit de corps, not only of mill
tarlsm but of birth II breeding. He
WouiQ NOT, II he could, have a gentle
ma held up to opprobrium, and If this
could be avoided by the unfortunate
criminals flight from justice-welI,
SIR Thomas was ready and willing to
take upon his shoulders the burden of
contempt and ridicuIe, which the press
and the general public would presently
pe hurting at him and at his depart.
ment for their hopeless incompetence
IN allowing a murderer to escape.
Therefore, he was putting the case
against Luke more clearly and with
a greater wealth of detail before his
brotherinlaw han the conscientious
discharge of duty should have allowed.