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 you think of
1t all?'
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 h more impatient Of the two.
! must tell you" he said, seeing
that his brotherinlaw seemed disin-
cltned to speak, that our man Travers,
as soon as Power had pointed Luke out
to him. went and rang the bell at Rad
Styles house and quickly enough es-
tablished beyond a doubt that the man
who had just entered it was Mr.. Luke
as to disapuse your mind once and for
all in case you should imagine that
this might be a case Of mistaken iden-
t1ty. Moreover you yourself know and
have admitted to me hat Luke's inten-
ton was to seek out his uncle and his
cousin at the Veterans club, after he
parted from you at 8 o'clock last
night"
Yes" said Colonel Harris, II know
that. l was not thinking of mistaken
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 raw CLEANED the outlines Of
the story which Power has just ampli-
fed for us, I vaguely guessed at the
broad lines of it. Now that 1 know it
in all its details. l can see the whole
scene in the lobby of the Veterans club
before me. You may believe me or not
as you like. but as a matter of fact /
l know r11ffn q o0o3 11oJ - hood u. ,
Mountford. | have often met him, Of
course, and though we have never been
very intimate-for I am a busy man
and have but little time for intimacy
with my fellow men] have had many
opportunities of studying him. He has
almost an abnormal one I call it, and
a morbid hatred Of public scenes or
scandal. This, Of course, he shares
with a great many men Of his class,
and his self control is all the more re-
as he is MOI by any means
the impressive young man about town
which he pretends to be. Well, that
same power, l suppose, stood him in
good stead in the lobby Of the Veterans
club. In Powers picturesque ~parIance
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 nave been astonished. I should"
continued Sir Thomas with emphasis.
because it would not have been like
the Luke whom 1 had studied. The
picture of two gentlemen at fsticuffs
like a pair of navvies would not have
been an edifying one, and Luke-as |
know hlm-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 nature-pulled himself
together and walked out into the
street."
You must not hin for a moment
thai Sir Thomas Ryder was habitually
a laxative Englishmen of his
class and type are rarely laxative, and
Sir Thomas' position n occupation
rendered him less communicative than
most. But Colonel Harris and h had
been brother officers. friends long be-
fore family ties were closely n by
marriage, and he considered the pres
crisis a very serious one.
He had had enough to do with crime
In the past years since he had OBJ
tanned the interesting post which he
now occupied, out never 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 trong tie. Louisa was his own
wires niece; she was the daughter of
a friend, of a brother officer. No one
who is not in some manner 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 ap-
peal they make to all that is most loyal.
most willing, most helpful in a man.
Sir Thomas felt that the mud Of
irretrlevable disgrace which waS bound
to smirch Luke de Mountford would
| IN ~ no small rpaSJ,ca rala,,ol ~,
Louisa too. Instinctively, too, all his
sensibllities recoiled against the idea
OF a gentleman, one of his own caste.
being dragged in this peculiarly loath-
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 tumble herd Of humans
lty commit when under the stress of
vulgar passions: greed, a~varice, jeal-
ousy. 1t was this juXtaposition of the
mean and sordid against his own class
that revolted Sir Thomas Ryder. He
was loyal to his brother officer in his
endeavor 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 was also-perhaps
more so-loyal to his caste: his was
the esprit de corps, not only of mill
tarlsfn but of birth INC breeding. He
wouid NOT, IL he could, have a gentle
man held up to opprobrium. and If this
could be avoided by the unfortunate
m flight from iustice-welI.
Sir Thomas was ready and willing to
take upon his shoulders the burden of
colteinpt and ~ridicule, which the press
diu the general public would presently
De hurting at him and at his DEPART
tnent 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
protherinlaw than the CONSCIENTIOUS
discharge of duty should have allowed.
I