The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-08-01
CHAPTER xxII-(Continued.)

CHAPTER xXII-(Continued.)
Ihey say" continued Luke quietly,
that Philip was killed by the thrust
through the neck. Well, where is that
dagger? Have they found it? Or
traced it to it's owner?"
Ihen as Colonel Harris was still ST.
lent he reiterated once more:
Did Sir Thomas tell you if they had
found the weapon?"
And Colonel Harris n~oddcdsand muir
mured:
YES"
Actually found the weapon?" insist
ed Luke.
Yes"
WHEREOF
"Behindw the railings-in Green Park
close to Hyde Park corner"
Was 1t a stiletto2 Or a dagger? Or
what?"
1T was a stick with a dagger fitting
into it. A snakewood stick. It was
covered with mud and-other stains"
Their was silence in the room now
for the space of a few brief seconds.
A silence solemn and full of meaning.
All through this rapid succession Of
questions and answer between Colo
mel Harris n Luke, Louisa had kept
her eyes fixed upon the younger mans
face n sunlight indifference al pos
sible danger alternating with impati-
ence at the singular obstinacy of his ac-
cusers. Throughout this time the face
she knew SO well, mirrored that perfect
calm which she understood and ad-
mired, sine it was the reflex Of q
calm, ~untroubled soul.
But now there came a change in the
face; or rather not in the face but in
the soul behind it. The change came
at Colonel Harris's last words; a
change so subtle, so undetermined, that
she wac H111fa ny how fo+Lo~ ho.l -
perceived it. But movement there was
none; one mere, almost i~nperceptible,
culver Of the eyelids-nothing more.
The mouth beneath the slight fair
moustache a not trembled, the brow
remained smooth, the breath came and
went as evenly as before.
But the change vas there, neverthe-
less! The gray tint just round the eyes,
the stony look in the pupils themselves
a tiny speck Of moisture round the
wing Of each nostril. Colonel Harris
had not looked at Luke whilst h. spoke
of the stick. He was staring straight
in front of him, hardly conscious Of the
silence which had cast a strange and
mystic spell on these three people
standing here in the banal atmosphere
Of a London hotel.
1t was Luke who broke the silence.
He said quite quitely asking the ques-
ions as If 1t related to a most trivial,
most Indifferent matter:
Did Sir Thomas show you the
stick?"
The colonel nodded in acquiescence.
1T was my stick, I suppose?
The query vas so sudden, SO unex-
pected that Colonel Harris instructive
ly uttered an exclamation Of amaze
ment.
luke! BY God, man! Are you
mad?"
Louisa said nothing. She was trying
to understand the -11n6arEf9 mr. h1o
Luke almost smiled at the other man.
bewilderment.
mo, SIR" he said, mot mad I think.
I only want to know how I stand"
How you stand, man?" calculated
Colonel Harris with uncontrolled We
hemence. Great Heavens, don't you
realize that here is some damned CON
spiracy as mysterious as 1t Is damn
able, and that you will have to look this
seriously in the face, If you don't wish
to find yourself in the dock before the
mex four and twenty hoursF"
II am" replied Luke simply, Cooking
the matter squarely in the face, sir, but
don't quite see how I can avoid stand
Ing in the dock as you say, before the
next four and twenty hours. You see
had quarrelled with Philip, and my
stick-wh1ch contained a d~agger-was
found in the park, covered with mud,
as you say, and other stains"
but hang it all, man. you lii not
murder your cousin"
This was not a query but an asser-
ton. Colonel Harris's loyalty had not
wavered, but he could not contrive to
keep the note Of anxiety out Of his
voice; nor did he reiterats the asser-
ton when Luke made no answer to it,.
Once more the latter passed his hand
over the back Of his head. You NOW
that gesture. It is SO English! and al
ways denotes a certain measure Of per-
turbation. Then he said with seeming
i~rrelevance:
II suppose I had better go now
His eyes sought Louisa's. trying to
read what she thought and felt. Imag-
Inc the awful moment! For he loved
her as you know, with that intensity
Of passion Of which a nature like his
almost cramped by perpetual self-con-
tainment-is alone capable. Then to
ave to stand before her wondering
what the next second would reveal,
hardly daring to exchange fear for GER
titude, because of what that gertrude
might be.
He sought her eyer and had no diff
Guilty in finding them. They a never
wandered away from his face. To him
the ardent neutrality-suspicious. eyes Of
hers had never seemed SO exquisitely
luminous. He read her soul then and
there as he would q book. A soul full