The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-10-03

moiested II he kept some distance away
from England. The whole thing has
been most unfOrtunate.'
~ don't think $50. uncle" she said
quietly Il am glad, very gald, that
Luke has been arrested
Are your" he retorted dryly. "The
outlook for him lis not pleasant
II know that. But at any rate now
there is q chance that he "a prove
his ~innoncence."
Sir Thomas Ryder gave a quick sigh
OF impatience.
MY dear child" he said gently, a'do
try and be reasonable about that. You
only lay up for yourself further stores
OF misery and OF disappointment. De
Mountfcrd is guilty. / tell you. He prac-
tically confessed at the inquest, and
he practically confessed to our fellows
after his arrest
Practically" she said with strong
emphasis, but not really. Luke has
never confessed that he committed q
well, ne admits that the stick with
which the murder was done was his
stick; that he had 1t In his hand The
night that the murder was committed:
that he went out, with II in his hand,
y minutes before the other man was
murdered" #
II know all that" she rejoined, but
let me tell o this, Uncle Ryder. Luke
admitted all that, as you say; but
he has w admitted that he killed
Phillip de Mountford-or Paul Baker
whoever ne may be. Luke, Uncle Ry-
der, Is allowing the awful accusation to
rest upon him, herause he wishes to
shield h real perpetrator OF the
crime" ~
"Nonsense!" broke in Sir Thomas
CURLY.
why nonsenseg'
Because, my dear LOU" he said
that sort Of thing. The consequences
OF having taken another persons life
otherwise q murder-are s. terrible
that no one will bear them for the
sake Of any one else On earth"
Yet ! tell you. uncle" she ~reiter-
ated with hrmness at least equal to his
own, that Luke never killed that man,
and that he pleads guilty to the crime
in order to shield some one else"
"Whom?" he retorted.
That i do not know-as yet. But
that is h reason why I came here to-
night. uncle; because you must help
me to flnd out"
Sir Thomas abruptly rose from his
chair, n took his stand on the hearth
rug, with legs apart, and slender hands
buried In the pockets Of his trousers,
in the attitude ear to every English
man. ..a 80
His eyes in their framework of in
Vulnerable wrinkles looked down, not
unkindly, at the pale, serious face of
the girl before him.
he, who was accustomed to give ev-
cry scrap of advice, every senseless
piece of title-tattle its just need of
attention, was not likely to leave I'M
needed the calm assertions of a woman
for whom he had great regard, and
II Tnyhn NnVn . kha Iny..IAA, - . I-1AIAr 80
ficer and one OF his best friends. or
course, the girl was in love with de
Mountfprd, so her judgment on him
was not likely to be wholly unbiased;
at the same time Sir Thomas-like all
men who have knocked about the world
q great deal, and seen much OF it's
seamy side-had q great belief in
woman's instinct, as apart from her
judgment, and he was the last man in
the world to hold the sex in contempt.
Look here, my dear" he said after
a little while. during which he had tried
to read the lines in the interesting face
turned up toward him, Il honor you for
just the same as l honor your father
for the like reason. And in order to
prove to you that ], individually, would
be only to happy to see the mans inno-
cence established beyond a doubt, / am
going to argue that soberly and SEN
sibly with you. You hold the theory
that Luke de Mountford is shielding
some one from the consequences OF a
awful crime by taking the burden on
himself. Now, my dear, as / told you
before, people don't do that sort of
thing nowadays. In olden times, the
consequences OF a crime--espeCially
where the aristocracy was concerned
were quite picturesque; the tower, the
block, and all that sort of thing. But
today the paraphernalia OF vengefuI
justice is very sordid, very mean, and
anything but glorious. 1t means the
lengthy inquiry before a police magis-
trate. 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 lace that sort of
thing, my dear, a man must be either
guilty-then he cannot help it; or
wronfully accused-then he hopes for
the establishment of his innocence. But
a man does not prepare himself to face
all that out OF qui%otic motives alone,
knowing himself to be innocent and
because he desires that another Should
be spared those awful humiliations and
the chance Of a disgusting and, shame,
full death"
What do you mean by all that, Un-
Gle Ryder" she asked.
81 mean that IL we are going to ad-
nit this quixotic motive in de Mount
ford's attitude now, there can only be
one handspring for It"
What is that?"
1T is perhaps q little difficult" 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" ....-
r-z 49, TTyooI