The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-05-30

HeFSelIs the Right Tor ner 10 DC Lne
giver of love, Of consolation, of sacri-
flee. '@'
Commonplace, plain, sensible Louisa
understood everything that Luke felt;
those great luminous eyes of hers,
fearless yet brilliant, read every line on
that face drilled into impassiveness:
No one else could have guessed the
precise m at which softness crept
into the lard determination of ia" and
lips: no ear but hers could ever have
perceived the subtle change IN the
quivering breath, from hard obstinacy
that drew the nostrils together, and
set every line of h face, 20 that II
drawing Of the heavy air around caused
by passionate longing which nam
mered at the Superseded brain, and
made the sinews crack In the mighty
physical effort at s~elf-repression.
But to all outward appearance per
| feet calm, correct demeanor. the att
tude and tone Of voice prescribed by the
usages Of this so-called society.
LOU" he said, 'it is not fair to
tempt me. / should be n miserable u
II l held you to your word. l am a
| penniless wastrel now, with
out a profession, without prospects,
| soon to be without friends"
He seemed to take pleasure in recall
ing his defects. and she let him raIiloie
on: women who are neither ~psychologl-
cal puzzles nor interesting personalities
have q way of listening patiently
whilst a tortured sou eases Its burden
by contemplating it's own martyrdoin.
81 am q penniless beggaT,' he re-
iterated. II have no right to ask any
woman to share my future dull n
humdrum existence. A few thousands
is all / have. / think that Edie Will
| marry soon and then 1 can go abroad
Il must go Abroad must do some
thing"
wen do 1t together, Luke"
81 feel" he continued, rebellious now
and wrathful, all h primary m
stincts alive in him OF self-preserVatlon
| and the desire to destroy an enemy.
II feel that il / sta "A in England
L should Contrive to be even with
| that blackguard. His rights? BY God!
I would never question nose Inc
moment 1 knew that he was Uncle
| Arthur's son l should have been ready
| to shake him by the hand, TO respect
him, to stand aside as was his due.
| But his attitude--the influence he exer-
cises over Uncle Radius rancour
against us all! Jim n Edie! what had
| they done to be all turned out OF the
house like n pack of poor relations
| and poor Uncle Rad
He checked himself, for she had put
a hand on his coat sleeve.
Luke, It IS no USE" h said.
You are right, Lou! and l am a
| miserable wretch. II you only knew
how I hate that man.
Don't" she said, let US think OF
him." .
How can I help it? He robs me Of
you" -
Her hand still rested on his arm, and
| he took 1t between both his. The cou-
| pies in front Of them all down the
length of stairs paid no heed to them,
- .tI,n hum nf Voices from a
distant room beyond. came softly
waited on the hot, still air the strains
Of the exquisite from the
"Contes d. Hoffman,
Louisa smiled confidently, proudly.
| He held her hand and she felt that his
hot and dry-quiyered III every
MUSCLE at her touch. The commonplace
| woman had opened the magic bOok OK
love. She had turned its first pages.
the opening chapters had been simple,
unruffled, uncrumpled by the hand OF
MEN or Of fate. But now at last she
read the chapter which all along she
knew was bound to reach her ken.
The leaves of the book were crumpled:
fate, with cruel hand, a tried to blur
| the writing; the psychological problem
OF today-the one that gees by the
name Of modern Woman'-wouid no
| doubt ponder ere she tired 10 read
| further; she would analyze her feel
ings. her thoughts, her sensations; she
would reVel over her w heaItache
| and delight in her own soul agony. But
simple minded, conventional Louisa did
none of these things. She neither
rufiled her hair, nor dressed in i'll made
| serge clothes; her dress was perfect
| and her hand eXqusitely EloVed. She
| did nothing out of the way; she only
loved m man altogether beyond her
self and she understood his passionate
love for her, and all that troubled him
in this world in which they both lived.
II love that b~arcarolle, don't you?"
! she said after awhile.
Il did not hear it," he replied,
Luke"
IT'S no use, Lou" he said under his
ing n driveling fool. but l have neither
eyes.nor ears now. l would give all |
| have in the world to lie down there
on the foo now before you and to kiss
the soles of our feet
How could l despise you, Luke, for
that?"
put your hand on my knee, just for
a moment, Lou. l think l shali go ma
If l don't feel your touch"
She did as he asked her. and he was
silent until the last note OF the bar
| carolle died away in a softly MUIR
INJURED breath.
What u cowardIy wretch | am" he
Sdlu III S"NSA IA Az "ONS vi IL
thusiastic applause which effeCtually
covered the sound OF his voice to all
| ears save hers. Il think l would sell
my soul for q touch OF YOU hand and
all the while l know that with every
word | am playing the part of a cow
ard. If Colonel Harris heard me he
would give me q sound thrashing. A
dog whip Is what deserve"
II have told you" she rejOined simp-
ly, that father does not wish our en-
gagement to be broke off. He sticks
to your cause and will do so through
thick and thin. He still believes that
this Philip is an imposter and thinks
that Lord Radcliffe has taken leave OF
his senses"
She spoke quite quietly. matter ~
faCtly now. pulling, by her serene calm,
Luke's SOU back from the realms Of
turbulent sensations to the prOEy facts
OF today. And HEN answer to her
mute dictate and with "a movement
wholly instructive and mechanical
drew himself upright, and passed his
hand over his ruffled hair, and the
ieapOrdiZed immaculateness Of shirt
front and cuffs.
Philip de Mountford," he said simp-
ly. lis no imposter. Lou. He has been
perfectly straightforward; and Mr..
DObson for one, who has seen all his
papers, thinks that there is no doubt
whatever that he is Uncle Arthur's son.
His Clerk-Mr. Downing-went out to
Martinique, you know, n his first
letters came a day of two ago. All in
Quiries give the same result, and Down
ing saws that II Is quite easy tn traCR