The Wagner post. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-current, 1912-04-26

enh he Eeplie0 genIly, nor TO keep
anything from you. There. will you
put your hand on my arm? AIRY and
Arriet. Ell? WeIl W mind. There's
no n to see."
He took her hand-that neatly
gloved. small hand of hers-and put 1t
under his arm. Fol one m II
seemed as If he would kiss that tiny
and tantalizing place just below the
.numo where the pink palm shows In
the opening Of the glove. Luke was
not a demonstrative lover, he was shy
ana English and abrupt: but this
morning-was it h breath Of spring
In the air. h scent of the Roman
hyac1nths in that bed over there, or
merely the shadow of a tiny cloud on
the uniform blue of his life's horizon
that gave a certain rugged softness to
his touch, as his hand fingered over
that neat glove which nestled securely
In among the folds Of his coat sleeve ?
Now" she said simply.
Have YOU" he asked with abrupt ir-
reievance, read your paper all through
this morning."
Not all through. Only the import
ant headlines"
And o saw nothing about a claim
TO a peerage?"
Nothing"
We'll! that's al about 1t. A man has
sprung up from nowhere in particular,
a. " DC lily OLCl6 ATlQuI 3
son, and, therefore, heir presumptive to
the title and ALL"
Luke heaved a deep sigh, as IL with
this brief II ungrammatical statement,
his own ear had been unburdened of
a tiresome load.
Your Uncle Arthur" she repeated
somewhat bewildered.
Yes. You never knew him did
you?"
No" she said, Il never knew him,
though as a baby 1 must have seen
MIN. l was only three, I think. when
ne died. But I never heard that he
had peer married. l am sure father
never knew"
Nor did I, nor did Uncle Rad, nor
a thundrebolt or an imposture."
Tell me-" she said, "a little more
clearly. Luke dear. will you? / am feel
Ing quite muddled." And now it was
she who led the way to the isolated
seat beneath that group Of silver birch,
whose baby leaves trembled beneath
the rough kiss Of the cool April breeze.
Ihey sat down together and on the
gravelled path In front of them a robin
hopped half shyly, half impertinently,
ABOUT and gazed with tiny, inquisitive
eyes on the doings of these big folk.
All around them the twitter Of bird
Threats filled the air with its magic,
its hymn to the reawakened earth, n
In this pleasing solitude the
distant sounds of the busy city that
seemed SO far away from this secluded
nook inhabited by birds and flowers.
and by two jewellers in Fata Morgana's
land.
Tell me first" said Louisa, in her
most prosy, most matter of fact tone of
voice, all that Is known about your
Uncle Arthur"
We'll, up to now, / individually knew
very little about him. He was the next
eldest brother to Uncle Rad, and my
rather was the youngest of all. When
Uncle Rad succeeded to the title, Ar
thur was heir presumptive of course.
But as you know he died-as was sup
posed unmarried-19 years ago. and my
poor dear father was killed in the hunt
Ing field the following year. 1 was a
mere Kid then and the others were
babtes-orphans the lot of us. NV
mother died when Edith was born.
Uncle Rad was said to be q confirmed
bachelor. He took us all to live with
MIN n was father, mother, elder
him!"
Luke paused abruptly, and Louisa too
was silent. Only the song Of a thrush
soaring upward to the skies called for
that blessing which neither OF them at
that moment could adequately evoke.
Yes" said Louisa at last, II knew
Lord Radcliffe and his people were
all OF the same world as herself. She
knew all about the present mans
touching ahection for the children of
his youngest brother, but more espec-
Tally for Luke on whom he bestowed an
amount Of love n tender care which
would have shamed many 4 father by
Its unselflsh intensity. That affection
was a beautiful trait In an otherwise
not very lovable character.
49,! daresay." resumed Luke after a
little while, that I have been badly
brought up. l mean in this way, that
IF the whole story Is true-if Uncle
Arthur did marry and did have a son,
myself and for Jim and Frank and
Edith. OF course Uncle Rad would do
what he could for us, but I should no
longer be his heir-and we couldn't go
on living at Grosvenor Square and"
Aren't you rambling OF a little too
fast, dear?" said Louisa gently, whilst
she beamed with an almost motherly
smile-the smile that a woman wears
when she means to pacify and to COM
fort-on the troubled face of the young
a
"Of course I am" HI replied more
calmly, b u I can't help it. For some
days now I've had a sort of feeling
lLdl SoLictlliS was gong TO happen
-that-well, that things weren't going
to go right. And this morning when
I got up, I made up my mind that |
would tell YOU"
When did you heal first and from
whom?"
THE first thing we heard was last
autumn. There came a letter from
abroad for Uncle Rad. 1t hadn't the
private mark on 1t, so Mr.. Warren
opened 1t along with the rest of the
correspondence. He showed it to me.
The letter was signed Philip de Mount
ford, and began, My dear uncle 1
couldn't make head or tail Of It. /
thought 1t all twaddle. You've no idea
what sort OF letters Uncle Rad
gets some times from every kind of
lunatic or scoundrel you can think of,
who wants to get something Qut Of him,
Well. this letter at first looked to me
the same sort Of thing. 1 had never
heard of any m who had the right
to say, dear uncle to Uncle Rad
but 1t had a lot in it about blood be-
ing thicker than water and all the rest
Of 1t, with a kind of request for Jus
tice n talk about the cruelty Of fate.
The writer, however, asserted positively
h he was the only legitimate son