The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-08-15

~ he would have facsd friends ana
acquaintances In the grandstand at
Ascot or In b stalls OF q West End
sands OF young Englishmen who look
exactly as Luke de Mountford looked
That morning; dress is almost q uni
form, IN cut, style, and degree OF tone;
nair aud even features are essentially
typical. Luke de Mountford, well born.
Well-pred, behaved just as Elton and
oxford had taught him to behave, con-
cealing every emotion. raising neither
voice nor gesture. An Englishman OF
that type has alternately been dubbed
nypocrltical, and Unconditional. He is
neither; he is only conventional. Luke
himself, facing the most abnormal Q
oltlon or life that could assail any man
OF ms class, was SO absolutely drilled
INTO this semblance of placidity that it
cost him no effort to restrain himself,
ana none to face h forest Of
1nquisttive eyes levelled at him from
every side. And since there was no
eHort, the outward calm appeared per-
Iectly natural an actor who has PLAYED
one part two hundred times and more
aoes SO night after night until the role
t,ss.. becomes reality. n he in ordi-
hlmself strange and unnatural.
Now Luke was given the Bible to
KISS and told to take the oath. From
Wnere ne stood he could see Louise and
a number OF faces turne coward him
m ~undisguised curiosity. Mocking eyes
and contemptuous eyes, eyes of indif-
ference and horror, met his own as with
quick glance they swept right over
the crowd.
1 don't think he really saw any one
except Louisa; no living person existed
LOT MN at this moment except Louisa.
1ypocrltlcal or Unconditional nature
a the trouble to probe. All that
the crowd saw was a man to all intents
ana rpo accused of a horrible muir
ger, confronted at every turn with un-
denlable proofs of his guilt, and vet
standing there just as if he were Wit
Messing the first act Of some rather
dull play.
Hypocrisy or e%ffrontery were the two
alternatives which the idle and the
curious weighed. whilst anticipating the
Joy OF seeing the mask torn from this
wooden image before them.
The coroner was asking the witness
ms name, and Luke de Mountford's
voice was quite steady as he gave re-
ply
"You We're" continued the coroner
uhtli quite recently and are again now
helr-presumptive to the Earl of Rad
clyffe" rau-
" was supposed at one time re-
pied Luke, that besides myself there
was no other heir to my uncle's title"
deceased. | understand, arrived in
england about six months ago,
s l understand"
lie made claim to be the only son of
Lord Radclyffe's hrother?"
That is So"
And to all appearances was able to
S~unstantiate this claim in the eyes Of
Lord Radclyffe?"
"Aapparently."
Sc much so that Lord Radclyffe
Immediately accorded him that position
IN his household which you had pre-
Vlously occupied? 2"
LORD Radclyffe accorded to the de-
ceased the position which he thought
hitting that he should occupy"
You know that the servant in Lord
Radclyffe's household have informed
the police that in consequence Of Mr..
Phillp de Mountford's advent in the
had to cave it?"
My brother. sister n I now live at
Fairfax Mansions, Exhibition Road"
said Luke evasively.
And the relations between yourself
the deceased have remained Of a
very strained nature, I understands"
o an Indifferent nature" corrected
Luke.
There was a pause. So far these
two-the coroner and the witness-had
seemed almost like two antagonists go
ing through the first passes of a duel
with foils. Steel had struck against
steel, curt answers a followed brief
questions. Now the combatants paused
to draw breath. One of them was
lighting the preliminary skirmish for
his life against odds that were bound
to overwhelm him in the end; the other
was just a paid official, Indifferent to
the victim, Interested only in the issue.
The man standing at the foot Of the
table was certainly interesting; the
coroner a made up his mind that he
was the guilty party-a gentleman and
yet a cowardly assassin; he amused
himself during this brief pause with a
quick anlysis of the h%igh-bred, i'm
ter, fair and somewhat heavy of lid
in no way remarkable save for the
present total lack of expression. There
was neither Indifference nor bravado,
neither fear, remorse nor defiance
only a mask made Of wood, hiding
every line Of the mouth, and not al
lowing even the eyes to show any signs
of vitality.
Beyond that the whole appearance
neatly groomed, with just a suspicion
of curl here and there, and a CLINT Of
gold in the high lights, the stiff neck
encased in it's immaculate collar, the
perfectly tailored clothes, the hands,
large but we'll formed and carefully
tended, which lightly interlaced, hung
in marble-like stiffness before him.
CONTINUED Next Week.)