Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-04

paraphernalia OF vengefui justice is very
sordid, very mean and anything put go
rious. II means the lengthy inquiry be-
fore a police magistrate. then the trial.
the past dragged UP to the light. the most
private secrets thrown to the morbid
curiosity Of the million. In order to race
that sort of thing. my dear. q man must
be either guilty-then he cannot help II,
or wrongfully accused-then he hopes for
the establishment of his innocence But
q man does not prepare himself to race
all that out of Quixotic motives alone,
knowing himself to be innocent, and be-
cause he desires that another should be
spared those awful humiliations and the
chance Of a disgusting and shameful
death"
What do you mean by all that. Uncle
IT mean that II We arc going to admit
this Quixotic motive in de Mountford .
attitude now. there can only be one main.
spring for II.
"What is that"
ut is perhaps q little difhcult-- he
said. somewhat hesitatingly.
You mean" she interposed. quietly.
that IL Luke is taking this awful crime
upon himself for the sake Of another. that
other can only be a woman whom he
loves"
WELL" retorted Sir Thomas. lit is not
you. my dear. l presume. who killed this
bricklayer from Chaplain"
She did not reply Immediately. but her
lips almost framed themselves into q
smile. Luke and another woman! To
Sir Thomas Ryder that seemed indeed. a
very simple explanation. Men have been
known to do strange things. to endure
much and to sacrifice everything Tor the
sake Of woman. But then Sir Thomas
knew nothing of Luke. nothing more than
what the latter chose to show of his in
ward self to the world. The memory OF
those few moments in the room I'm Fairfax
Mansions laughed the other mans sug
gestion to scorn. Louisa shook her head
and said. simply:
No. Uncle Ryder. I did not kill the
Chaplain bricklayer in the cab"
And You won't admit that Luke may
be shielding another woman" said Sir
Thomas. with just the faintest semblance
of a sheer.
Il won't say that" she replied. gravely.
You see. l don't really know. / would
take dying oath at this moment-if l
were on the point of death-that Luke
never committed that abominable crime.
/ won't even say that he Is incapable OF
it. I'll only swear that he did not do il.
Then, to me. the only possible. the only
| logical conclusion is that he Is shielding
some one else.
Have you questioned him."
Put the question directly to him.
| mean?''
Yes"
! "And what did he say
| that he would plead guilty at his trial.
He never told you directly or indirectly
| that he killed the mann
For the space of one second only did
Louisa hesitate. She had asked Luke the
direct question: WAS 1t you who killed
that mann and he had replied, 1T was
l." She had asked it then, determined to
know the truth, convinced that she would
know the truth when he gave reply. And
she did learn the truth then and there.
not as Luke hoped that she would In
terpret it, but as it really was. He had
never really lied to her. for she had never
been deceived. Now. she did not wish to
hide anything from Sir Thomas Ryder.
the only man in the whole world who
could help her to prove Luke's innocence
i'm spite of himself: therefore, when her
| uncle reiterated his question somewhat
sharply. she replied quite frankly. looking
He told me directly that it was he who
had killed the man.
"And even then you did not believe
him?'
81 knew that he tried to lie.''
you firmly believe that de Mountford
knows who killed that Paul Baker-or
| whoever he WASP
st do.''
And that he means to go through his
trial and to plead guilty to a charge OF
murder. so that the real criminal should
escape?'
"Yes!'
and that he is prepared to hang-to
hang, mind your reiterated Sir Thomas,
with almost cruel bluntness. IF he is con-
demned. In order to allow the real crimi-
nal to escape?'
Yes"
And you yourself have no notion as to
, who this person may be?''
mo"
rs there anybody. do you think, who is
likely to know more about Luke de Mount
lords past and present life than you do
yOurself?"
Yes" she said, Lord Radclyffe.'
(To be continued tomorrow