Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-08-01
CHAPTER XxI-(continued.)


Ana II that's one OF the proofs on
which you are going to accuse my flu
ture Soninlaw vi having committed u
murder. then all 1 can say is, Tom.
that you and 1 are seeing the last vi
one another today"
But Sir ThOmas tool this threat, as
he had taken Colonel Harris undis-
gutsed expressions of contempt, with
perfect equanimity.
IT." he said quietly, y did accuse
Luke de Mountford OF any other man
OF murder on such paltry grounds as
that. win. you would be perfectly JUS
tilted in turning your back on me, II
for no other reason han that l should
then be an incompetent ass"
Welt. what more is there them"
"Only this. viii. That the stick
which o have so often seen in Luke
de Mountford's hand, was found this
morning inside the ratings of Green
park: 1t bears unmistakable signs of
the use to which 1t was put last night
You mean-that 1t was stained-?'
How long q time elapsed between the
beginning of that query and its last
words Colonel Harris could not say.
The uttering of the words was a terrible
effort. They seemed to choke him ere
they reached his lips. A buzzing and
singing filled his ears so that he did
not e a Sir Thomas reply, BIZ.
through Il strange veil which half OBJ
AAS 0bO BS e. HIS w =
laws slow nod of affirmation. For the
first time in his life, the man who had
fought against naked savages in the
swamps or sands of Africa. who had
heard. unfiinching. the news of the
death Of his only son, felt himself to-
h hum of the busy city in the street
below, hansOms and omnibuses rafting
along the road. the cries of news ven
doris or hawkers. the hustle OF hum
drum. every day life: and through it
the. licking of his own watch in his
waistcoat pocket.
He remembered afterward how
strangely this had impressed him: that
he could hear the ticking Of his own
watch. He had never been conscious
before of such an acute sense Of hear
ing And yet the buzzing and singing
ribly, painfully conscious of silly, trl-
vial t~hings-the ticking OF his watch
which obsessed him, h irregularity In
the design Of the wall paper. the brok-
en- top OF the inkstand or Sir Thomas
desk.
The great. al-important fact had es-
capped ~momentarily from his conscious
ness. He forgot that Philip de Mount.
Ioro hal been murdered, and that
Luke's stick, blood stained and damn
ing. q been found inside the ratings
Of the park.
A cycle of time went by-ar eternity.
or else a few seconds. Sir Thomas Ry-
der pulled per the long drawer Of his
monumental desk.
Colonel Harris watched him doing it.
and long before Sir Thomas took a GER
tain Something from out the drawer.
the colonel knew what that something
would b6.
A familiar thing enough. The colonel
had seen It over and over again in
Luke de Mountford's hand. A slender
stick Of rich looking. dark wood. only
very little thicker at the top than at
the base and with q silver band about
nix inches from the top. On the band
the Initials l.. de N. daintily engraved.
put It away. Tom. for Gods sake"
Colonel Harris hardly recognized his
wi voice: he had spoken more from
sudden Instinct Of shrinking from
loathsome objects. than from any real
will of his own. One glance at the
stick had been enough. It was thickly
coated with mud, and about six inchea
from the top there where the silver
band showed . deep dark cleft between
Il and the length Of the stick. there
Yet Colonel Harris had seen wors.
sights than this In Znluland and q
OmdursIIan. Hut on this stained stick
that dl6eoloted silver band. he felt 1
yI@hefVe broken it TO you. Wiil,
genyIi ~ Ixc6ulasssi' sAld Sir Thouas. no
QuItes ! pale54e4 ~ slbefofe. He 70
wassn6fidnre1vSa ~ the Distress of hi
0Msfrlo4d. ssxo6Nueo that ! ha0 NO op'
zion, But % ten you ,all. You must kee!
oet csos1aasa co. ~, Tsen Sr ~. scoss :,
her abroad, Wl11s q soon ~ you can"
IS ~ Won't O.. murrnured tho father
- $500 a5er
%s5t<%Es 49, 14r So EE aaAAs