The Wagner post. (Wagner, Charles Mix County, S.D.) 1912-current, 1912-04-19

INC OElAlhully uSuleu HdldCe 11Olel-
1t was close on half-past 6 by the
clock Of the Care du Nord opposite.
The express from Ostend had just come
in-very late, Of course, owing to the
gale which had delayed the mai boat.
Louisa, straining her eyes. watched the
excited crowd pouring out of III sta
ton in h wake Of porters and Of piles
fussing like an army Of irresponsible
pigmies; men In blouses. and men In
Immaculate bowler hats, women
wrapped in furs, clinging to gigantic
headgear that threatened to leave the
safe refuge Of an elaborate couture or
OF well fixed gargantuan hat pins. mid
inettes in fashionable skirts and high
heeled shoes. country women in wool
shawls that Tapped round their bulky
forms like the wings Of an overfed bat,
all hurrying and jostling one another
In q mad endeavor to avoid the on
rush of the innumerable t~axi-autos
which in uncountable numbers wound
In and out Of the slower moving traffic
like the erratic thread Of some living,
tangled skein.
Just the everyday prosy life Of a
small but ambitious capital struggling
In the midst Of an almost overpowering
n of responsibility toward the whole
OF Europe in view of its recent great
colonial expansion.
Louisa gave an impatient sigh.
Even the strong ones Of the earth
get wearied Of the daily round, the
common task at times. She and aunt
were due to dine at the British en-
bassy at s o'clock; 1t was only half
past 6 now and obviously impossible
to sit another two hours in Il unre-
sponstve hotel in the company Of
red velvet chairs and the bronze Psyche.
Aunt, in conjunction with her maid.
Annette. was busy laying the founda-
tons OF an elaborate toilet. Louisa
vas free to do as she pleased. She got
a serviceable ulster and a diminutive
hat and sailed forth into the streets.
She did not want to think or to dream,
nor perhaps did she altogether wish
to work off that unusual feeling of ex-
element which Ia so unaccountably
transformed her ever since Luke's letter
had come.
All she wanted was to be alone and
to come out Of herself for awhile. She
had been alone all the afternoon. save
for that brief half hour when aunt dis
cussed the obvious Owe a badly brewed
cup OF tea; 1T was not that kind of
"alone-ness" which Louisa wanted now,
but rather the solitude which a crowd
ed street has above all the power to
give.
There Is a kind Of sociability in n
room, be 1t ever SO Incorporating In
the matter Of discomfort, but a crowded
street can be unutterly lonely, either
cruelty so or kindly as the case may be.
To Louisa Harris, the commonplace
society girl, accustomed to tea fights,
to dances and to dinner parties, the
loneliness Of this crowded little city was
emlnently welcome. With her dark
ulster closely buttoned to the throat
the small hat tied Under her chin. with
everything on her weather proof and
questionable. she attracted no notice
from h passersby.
NOT one head was turned as, with
a long breath of delight, she sailed
forth from under the portico of the
motel out into the muddy. busy street;
not one glance Of curiosity or interest
so freely bestowed in the streets of
foreign capitals On a solitary female
figure. II 1T be young and comely, fol-
lowed this very ordinary looking Eng
lish miss.
To the crowd she was Indifferent.
These men and women hurrying along
ush1ng Jostling and scurrying knew
nothing OF Luke. o that she, Louisa
Harris, was the happiest woman on
earth
She turned back toward the Boule-
ward. meaning to take a brisk walk all
a circuit round the inner part of the
town and which ultimately would lead
her back to the Care du Nord and the
Palace hotel. 1t was a walk she had
often done before; save for one or W.
busy corners on h way, 1t would be
fairly solitary and peaceful.
Louisa stepped oil with an honest
British tread, hands buried in the pock-
cts Of her serviceable ulster, head bent
against the sudden gusts OF wind. She
Liz not mind the darkness of the III
lighted, wide boulevard. and had every
OF covering the two miles in
a little more than half an hour.
How b time sped! 1t seemed as IL
she had only just left the hotel, and
already surely not a quarter If q mile
b could see glimmering the lights
OF the Place Namur, the half way point
OF her walk.
She was in the Boulevard Waterloo.
where private houses with closed porte
cocheres add nothing to the municipal
lighting of the thoroughfare.
rams had been rushing past her in
endless succession: but now there was
a lull- Close by her a taxi-auto whizzed
quickly past n came to a standstilI
some 100 yards away. near the pave
ment and not far from an electric light
standard.
Louisa, with vacant eyes attached on
that cab, but with her mind fixed on a
particular room in a particular house
III IroSseHOr square were uVeQ a man
OF the name Of Luke d. Mountford.
continued her walk. Those same va
cant eyes Of hers presently saw the
chauffeur Of the taxi-auto get down
from his box and open the door of the
cab, and then her absent mind was
suddenly brought back from Grosvenor
square, London, to the Boulevard Wat
erloo n Brussels. by a terrible cry of
horror which had broken from that
same chaufeur's lips. Instinctively
Louisa hurried on. but. even as she did
so. a small crowd which indeed seemed
to have sprung from nowhere had al
ready gathered round the vehicle.
Murmurs Of What 1t 1t? What Is
it," mingled with smothered groans of
terror. as curiosity caused one or two
OF the more bold to peer into the
gloomy depths Of the cal. Shrill calls
brought a couple Of gardens to the
spot. In a moment Louisa found her
self a unit in an eager, anxious crowd.
asking questions. c~onjecturing. won
dering. horror struck as soon as a
plausible and graphic explanation came
from those who were in the forefront
and Were privileged to see.
"A man-murdered-
But how?"