The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-05-02
CHAPTER w.
NOTHING REALLY TANGIBLE.

Nv.
NOTHING REALLY TANGIBLE.
They walked up the gravelled walk
under the chestnut trees, whereon the
leaf buds, luscious looking, with their
young green surface d~elicately tinged
with pink, looked over ready to burst
n f~an-shaped fulness Of glory. The
well kept paths, the orderly flower
peds. and smoothly trimmed lawns
looked all SO simple, so obvious beside
the strange problem which fate had
propounded to these two young people
walking up and down side by side-and
With just a certain distance between
them as IL that problem was keeping
them apart.
And that intangible reality stood be-
tween them, causing in Luke a vague
sense Of sham~efacedness. as If he were
guilty toward Louisa, and in her a feel
ing or irritation against the whole
world around her, for having allowed
this monstrcus thing to happen-this
vague shadow on life's pathway, on
the life Of the only man who mat
tered.
People passed them as they walked;
the curious, the Indifferent; men with
bowler hats pulled over frowning
brows, boys with caps carelessly thrust
in worn gloves, tiptilted noses blue with
cold, thin, il-fitting clothes scarce
shielding attenuated shoulders against
the keen spring blast.
ust the humdrum, every day crowd
Of London; the fighters, the workers,
toiling against heavy odds of feeble
health, insufficient food, scanty cloth
ing. the poor that no one bothers about,
less interesting than the unemployed
laborer, less picturesque, less noisy.
they passed and no time to heed the
elegantly clad figure wrapped in costly
furs. or the young man in perfectly
tailored coat, who was even now pre-
pairing himself for a fight with destiny,
beside which the daily struggle for
halfpence would be but a mere skirm-
ish.
Instinctively they knew-these two
the society girl and the e~asy-going
wealthy man-that II was reality with
which they would have to deal. That
instinct comes with the breath Of fate;
a warning that her DEGREES are serious,
not to be lightly set aside, but pom
dered over; that her materialized
breath would not be a phantom or a
thing to be derided.
Truth or imposture? Which?
Neither the man nor the girl knew as
yet, but reality-whatever else 1t was.
They walked on for awhile in silence.
Another instinct-the conventional one
had warned them that their stay in
the park had been unduly prolonged;
there were social duties to attend to,
calls to make, luncheon with Lord
Radcliffe at Grosvenor Square.
So they both by tacit consent turned
their steps back toward the town.
A man passed them from behind,
walking quicker than they did. AS he
passed, he looked at them both in
tently, as if DESTROYS of arresting their
attention. OF course. he succeeded, for
mis- look was almost compelling. Louisa
was the first to turn toward him, then
Luke did likewise; n the passerby
raised his hat respectfully with a
slight inclination Of head and shoulders
that suggested foreign upbringing.
Once more convention stepped in and
Luke mechanically returned the sa-
lutte.
who was that?' asked Louisa, when
the passerby was out of ear shot.
II don't know" replied Luke. 81
thought it was some one you knew. He
bowed to you"
Mo- she said, ito you, I think.
Funny you should not know him."
But silence once broken. constraint
| fed with It. She drew nearer to Luke
and once more her hand sought his
coat sleeve, with a light pressure
| quickly WltnOraWn.
Now, Luke" she said, abruptly re-
stand in ali this?"
II"
Yves. What does Lord Radcliffe
say?"
He laughs the whole thing to scorn,
and declares that the man is an i'm
pudent liar"
He saw" she asked, the first let
taro The ono that pama from ST Vim
cent?"
Yes. Mr.. Warren and I did not think
we ought to keep 1t from him."
"Of course not" she assented. Then
he said that the letter was a tissue of
| lies"
From beginning to end
HE refused" she insisted, ito believe
in the marriage of your uncle Arthur
out there in Martinique"
HE didn't go into details. He just
said that the whole letter was an i'm
pudent attempt at blackmail."
"And since them"
HE has never spoken about It,"
Until today?' she asked.
He hasn't spoken" he replied, in
| sisting on the word, "even today. Two
or three times I think letters came for
him in the same handwriting. Mr.. War
rem did not open them. of course, and
took them straight to Uncle Rad. They
i always pore IOTelBH pOStLldIh Me- SoIic
from one place, some from another;
but Uncle Rad never referred to them
after he had read them, nor did he In
struct Mr.. Warren to reply. Then the
letters ceased, and 1 began to forget
the whole business. l didn't tell you,
because Uncle Rad told me not to talk
about the whole thing. 1t was beneath
contempt, he said, n he didn't want
the title tattle to get about"
Then" she asked, what hap
pened?"
"A week ago a letter came with a
London postmark on It. The address
and letter were both typewriter, and
the latter covered four sheets Of paper,
and was signed Philip de Mountford.
Bar the actual story of the marriage
and all that, the letter was almost iden-
tical to the first one which came from
| ST. Vincent. Mr. Warren had opened 1t,
for 1t looked like a business one, and
he waited for me in his office to ask
my opinion about 1t. OF course we had
to give II to Uncle Rad. 1t had all the
old phrases in 1t about blood being
thicker than water, and about longing
for friendship and companionship, and
all that. There was no hint of threats
or demand for money or anything ike
that"
"Of course not" she said. Whilst