The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-10-31

~~N@ ~ NAA to2A tAhNAS SeAAi
one from Brussels. BY this time / had
searched carefully through some let
tiers which my brother, Arthur, had
desired that / should destroy after his
death. but which / had always KEEP
by me. meaning n day to comply
with his wish. ~ h
II had more than a suspicion then
that my brothers marriage was q per-
fectly legal one, and that his son was
the only true heir-presumptive to the
title and estates which / mad always
tonGly thought could only devolve up
on Luke. / went over TO Brussels de-
termined to see this Philip before he
set foot In England. The thought
that he would supersede Luke was
more than i could bear.
Il arrived in Brussels early one
morning, having crossed owe In the
night. At once / drove to the mean
Motel where he was lodging. He was
sharing q room with q man with
whom he had picked up q casual ac-
quaintanceship on the sea voyage be-
.weer1 the West Indies and Antwerp.
Fhe two men had come yer together
in the Belgian boat. They looked q
pair Of young blackguards. but 1t did
not take me very long TO be convinced
that for some q best known to
himself my brother, Arthur, had de-
ceived me and that his son, Philip. was
indeed the legitimate and rightful heir
to the title which / hold. The papers
were authentic and undisputable. This
much I knew and that Luke. whom !
loved best In all the world, more
than any father has ever loved
ais son would never be Earl Of Rad
Glyffe SO long az Philip de Mountford
lived. .M .
Men will say that I am an aban-
doned criminal, and indeed II may be
so. May God forgive me hereafter, for
killed my brothers son I pretended
TO rejoice at his Homecoming, and In
nalf an hour had gained his confidence.
IN the afternoon we went out together
and after a short walk we picked up
a taxicab. Philip gave the driver the
address of a restaurant at which ! had
asked him to dine with me. / kept
carefully in the shadow, so that the
man shouldn't see me. Then on the
way in the cab l killed him. When
mis- head vas turned away from me-,
| plunged an old Italian stiletto which
4 had carried about with me, ever since
[ had had letters from Philip, straight
INTO his neck. ""- ~"
"He died instantly without a groan,
and j was sick to death, but / man
aged to- sit quietly beside him until
the cab pulled up; then / jumped out
and told the chauffeur to drive my
htSAAh Oh w oOhAO ASAAObS paw Oh
he ~boulevards. s'' .at't-+' &
."I watched the cab until II was out
OF sight, then I hailed another and
drove straight to the Gard du Nord.
and crossed back to England that
night. / threw the stiletto overheard.
into the sea. I had spent ~ hours IN
Brussels. and I had killed Philip de
Mountford, and made sure that Luke
would be Earl OF Radcliffe after rue,
ut was not likely that in their search
for the missing criminal who had
stabbed an unknown stranger In a cab,
The Belgian police would suspect an.
English peer. The mystery OF that
crime has remained impenetrable, be-
nothing was ever known OF the
stranger who was murdered. At the
mean hotel where he lodged no one
knew anything about him. Only
person knew and he was silent for
purposes Of his own. TO-. =
Before the police searched the un-
known strangers room, the room which
he shared with the chance friend whom
he had picked up on h Belgian boat
the latter already had found and con-
cealed the papers which would have
revealed the identity Of the murdered
man, II not that OF his murderer.
Il, at home in England, wondered
how it was that the Belgian police had
never discovered that the murdered
nan was named Philip de Mountford
and that he claimed to be the heir
to the earldom of Radcliffe. I expected
paragraphs in the paper, some un-
pleasantness even,. but none came.
II could not understand It, for I had
forgotten the existence Of the chance
friend. ..l,
And then one day last April I UNI
derstood. Once more / had letters from
abroad, from a man who claimed TO
my brothers son At nrst / thought
the whole thing q silly imposture, fun-
til the day when a. man confronted
me In my own house, armed with every
proof that had killed Philip de Mount
ford in Brussels. He had the latter's
passports, his birth. and marriage GER
tificates, his letters of Identification,
all, all the papers that he had hlched
from among the dead mans things,
and which he now Haunted before me,
daring to prove him an impostor. If
1 am not Phflip" de Mountford,f he said
to me, then where is Philip de Mount
ford?' And from that hour, ! vas as
In his hands. He held me. and
he knew Ii. / might have proved him
impostor, and he could prove me
murderer. ~
Heaven alone knows how I did not
lose my reason then. / fioundered III
a sea of wild, contectures, wild pro-
jects. wild hopes OF escape But my
tyrant held me, and 1 dared MOI rebel.
And ono more 1 was .obsrssed with
the awful certitude that Luke would
never be Earl OF Radcliffe after me,
while this man lived. |e@
He had so taken upon himself the J
personality Of Philip, the evidences
which went to prove his identity with
the late Arthur de Mountford's sou
so strangely circumstantial, that,
short OF proclaiming loudly that ! had
my, brothers son with my own
hand. nothing could prevent the i'm
from succeeding In hlching
Luke'ss inheritance. ~r.a.E f.sU
And even IL / had confessed then,
Ii seemed to me that this man would
sfill succeed in proving that ] had
an unknown strangers
chance friend, who was an English
bricklayer's son-and that he and he
only was Philip de Mountford, the late
Arthur's son
when did / first dream OF killing
him, as i killed the other2 / could
not tell you that. But II was some time
ago. and / watched my opportunity
with patience and perseverance. Then
at last the opportunity came, following
on terrible p~rovocation. That dark.
foggy November night that you all re-
member SO we'll I was to meet my
tyrant at the Veterans club at o.
o'clock. / drove up there and as i
stepped out Of the cab I came face
to face with Luke. Something In the