The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-07-25
CHATTER xx-lcontinued.l

ana II thatS one of the proofs or
Whlch you are going to accuse my fu-
taFe Sonil!aW OF having committed a
murder, then all 1 can say is, Tom,
that You n l are seeing the last OF
one another today
But Sir Thomas tool his threat, as
he had taken Colonel Harris undis-
guiSed expressions of contempt. with
perfect eQuanimity.
II he said quietly, II did accuse
Luke de Mountford or any other man
OF murder on such paltry grounds as
that, VAN, you would be perfectly JUS
tined in turning your back on me, if
Tor no other reason than that l should
then be an incompetent ass"
Well. what more is there then?"
only this, VIII. That the stick
which you have SO often seen in Luke
de Mountford's hand, was found this
morning inside the ratings of Green
park; 1t bears unmistakable signs OF
the use to which it was put last night"
You mean-that it was stained-?"
How long a time elapsed between the
beginning of that query and its last
words Colonel Harris could not say.
The uttering of the words was a terrible
effort. They seemed to choke aim ere
they reached his lips. A buzzing and
singing filled his ears SO that he did
not hear Sir Thomas reply. bu-
through a strange veil which half OBJ
scuAed his vision he saw his brotherin-
laws slow o of affirmation. For the
hrst time in his life, the man who had
fought against naked sayages in the
swamps or sands OF Africa, who had
heard, unfiinching. the news OF the
death OF his only son, felt himself to-
tally unnerved. He heard as in a dream
the hum of the busy city in the street |
below, hansoms and omnibuses rafting |
along the road, the cries of news ven
doris or hawkers, the hustle of hum
drum, every day life; and through if
the ticking of his own watch in his |
waistcoat pocket.
He remembered afterward how
strangely this had impressed him; that |
he could hear the ticking of his own |
watch. He had never been conscious
before of such an acute sense of hear
ing. And yet the buzzing and singing
In his ears went on And he was hor-
ribiy, painfully conscious of silly. tri-
vial things-the ticking of his watch
the design Of the wall paper, the brok-
en- top of the inkstand on Sir Thomas
desk.
The great, alI-important fact had es-
capped ~momentarily from his conscious
ness. He forgot that Philip de Mount
fora had been murdered, and that
Luke's stick, blood stained and damn
ing, had been found inside the ratings
of the park
"A cycle Of time went by-an eternity
or else a few seconds. Sir Thomas Ry'
der pulled open the long drawer of his
desk.
Colonel Harris watched him doing If
and long before Sir Thomas o a Ger.
tain Something from out the drawer
the colonel knew what that something
be.
A familiar thing enough. The colonial,
MAO seen IL over and over again in
Luke de M0untford's hand. a slender
OF rich looking. dark wood. only
very little thicker at the top than al
the base and with a silver band about
six inches from the top. On the band
initials l. de Do daintiIy engraved.
Put it away, Tom, for Gods sake!"
Harris hardly recognized his
oWn voice: he had spoken more from
2 sudden instinct Of shrinking from
l~oatbsonne objects. than from any real
VIII OF his own. One glance al the
SLICK nad Deen enough. 1t was thickly
from b top there where the silver
showed a deep dark cleft between
lt and the length Of the stick. there
were other stains-sbvious stains of
blood.
Yet Colonel Harris had seen worse
omderman. But on this stained stick,
that disco1ored silver band. he felt il
to look.
Il AVE broken It to you, VIII. as
as l could" said Sir Thomas, not |
quite as placidly as before. He too
not unmoved by the distress of his
Did friend. You see that I had no op-
lion, but to tell you all. You must keep
out of all this, old man, and above all
You must keep Louisa out of 1t. Take
her abroad, VIII. as soon as you can.
She won't go" murmured the father,
duly.
"Nonsense!"
"She won't co. he reiterated. "She
has given her heart to Luke.
She'll soon forget him.
Not She
And she'll be horrified-when she
She'll not believe it,
IF he Is wise, he'll plead guilty-his
will advise him to do. that. 1t
Is his Onc chance. z
His n chance?' uueried the other
vaguely.
"Of escaping the gallows. II he
pleads guilty, many extenuating cir
cumstances Will be a~dmitted-his own
spotless reputation-and also intense
He'll get a life sentence,
or ven perhaps
But with q loud oath, the most forci- |
bic one he a ever uttered in his life,
Colonel Harris had Jumped to his feet