Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-06-20
CONTINUED From Last week.)
CHAPTER XIII.
THEY v NO IA


A. to what occurred in the heart of
h fog on that night in November four
years ago, most of you nc doubt will
remember. Those who do not l must
refer to the morning papers Of the
following day.
Gossip and detail sufficient to fill col
umn upon column of newspaper; gos-
sip that grew as the hours sped on,
and the second day of fog pursued its
mOnOtOnOuS course.
A nan had been found murdered in
. taxicab, his throat stabbed through
from ear to ear, the jugular pierced,
life absolutely extinct; the murderer
vanished.
Drama in the midst of reality.
Such things are, you know No
Amount of so-called realistic literature.
no amount of sneers at what is dubbed
melOdrama. will prevent his fact Oc-
curring-and occurring very frequent
ly in the streets Of a mighty city.
Just a maj murdered and the MUIR
derer disappeared. A very real thing
that, and London has had to face such
facts often enough, more often than
has an audience at Drury Lane or the
Adelphi. The superior minded critic
who spells British drama with a cap
atal b and d, and ~pronounces it Pritish
trama, sat in the stalls of a London
theater on this very same foggy eve
ming in November, four years ago.. The
play was one that did not appeal to
the superior-minded critic; it was just
q simple tale of jealousy which led to
the breaking of that great command
ment: Thou shalt do no murder
And the superior-minded critic
yaWned behind a we'll gloved hand and
dubbed the play melodramtic. unreal.
and STACEY, quite foreign to the life of
today. But just at that h~our-between
. and 10 o'clock-a man was murdered
in q taxicab, and his murderer van
ished in the fog.
London doesn't dub such events
melodrama; she does not sheer at them
they are real; there is nothing STACEY
or artificial about them: they have
ven become commonplace.
They occur so often. And most often
whilst society dimes or dances and the
elect applaud with languid grace the
newest play of Mr.. Bernard a
Only in this case, h event gained
additional interest. The murdered man
was a personality. Some n whom
everybody that was anybody mad
talked about, gossiped, and discussed
o the past six months. Some one
whom few had seen but many had
heard about-Philip de Mountford- the
son of the late Arthur De Mountford-
Redclyffe's newly found heir, you
know.
The news spread as only such news
can spread, and when society poured
out from theaters. from houses in Gov
ernor square, or from the dining room
Of the Carlton. every o. had heard
the news.
1t was as if the sprite of gossip had
Neen busy whispering in over-wiliing
: ears.
philip de Mountford has been MUIR
dered."
"He was found in a taxicab; his
throat was cut from ear to ear"
..No. no! not cut. I understand.
Pierced through with a sharp instru-
Ment-a s%tiletto. 1 presume"
..How horrible"
..Poor Lord Radclyffe-such a trag-
.He.rl never live through it,"
"He has looked very feebly lately
.aThe scandal round the late Ar
.It seems Arthur de Mountford had
mo. no! Philip did not look like
= half-castc. 1 saw him once or twice.
He was dark, but mic looking
still there was some about
the Marriage"
..what scandal?"
.seek whom the crime benefits, you
.Thea you think?.you really think
LIKE do Mountford did IT."
Il Thought 80 the moment ! neard
:rve always thought that Luke dc
Neuntford . queer sort Of fellow"
"And no took his Cousins advent
.xss one can't wonder 1t that ex-