The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1912-07-25
CHAPTER NXI-lContinued.)

And II that's Il OF the proofs on
which you are going TO accuse my fu-
murder, hen all I can say is. Tom.
that you and l are seeing he last OF
one another today"
But Sir Thomas took this threat, as
he had taken Colonel Harris undis-
guised expressions Of contempt, with
perfect equanimity.
If" he said quietly, Il did accuse
Luke de Mountford or any other man
of murder on such paltry grounds as
that, Win, you would be perfectly jus
tihed in turning your back on me, If
for no other reason b that l should
then be an incompetent ass"
Well. what more is there then?"
only this, VIII. That the stick
which you ave SO often seen in Luke
de MountfoTd's hand, was found this
morning inside the ratings Of Green
park; it bears unmistakable signs OF
the use TO which it was put last night"
You mean-that it was stained-?"
How long q 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 him ere
they reached his lips. a buzzing and
singing filed his ears so the ne did
not hear Sir Thomas reply, bu-
through a strange veil which half OBJ
scu.<ed his vision he saw his brotherin-
laws slow nod Of affirmation. For the
first time in his life, the man who had
fought against naked savages 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 mum 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 it
the ticking of his own watch in his
pocket.
He remembered afterward how
strangely this had impressed him; that
he could e 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-
ribly, painfully conscious of silly, tri-
vial thjngs-the ticking of his watch
which obsessed him, the 1~rregularity in
the design of the wall paper, the brok-
en- top of the inkstand on Sir Thomas
desk.
The great, all-important fact had es-
capped m~omentarily 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
monumental desk.
Colonel Harris watched him doing it,
n long before Sir Thomas took a GER
tain Something from out the drawer,
the colonel knew what that something
would be.
A familiar thing enough. The colonel
had seen 1t owe and over again in
de Mountford's hand. A slender
stick Of rich looking, dark wood. only
very little thicker at the top than at
six inches from the top. On h band
the initials l.. de M. daintily engraved.
Put it away, Tom, for Gods sake!"
Colonel Harris hardly recognized his
own voice; he mad spoken more from
a sudden instinct Of shrinking from
will of his own. IN glance at the
stick had been enough. 1t was thickly
coated with mud, and about six inches
from the top there where the silver
band showed a deep dark cleft between
1t and the length of the stick, there
were other stains-ebvious stains of
blood.
Yet Colonel Harris had seen worse
sights than this in Zululand n at
Omdurman. But OF this stained stick,
that discolored silver band, he felt 1t
impossible to look.
SGEAl HAVE piohSiA 80 W 49, So AAs eS
gently as I COULD said Sir Thomas, moi
quite as placidly as before. He toe
was not unmoved by the distress of his
old friend. You see that I had no OPP
ton, but to tell you all. You must keer
out of all this. old and above al
you must keep Louisa out OF 1t. Take
her abroad, Will, as 500 as vol can"
"She won't go" murmured the father
duly.
.Nonsense!"
"She won't CO." he reiterated. "Sht
has given her heart to Luke"
She'll soon forget him."
Not she"
aAnd she'll be horrifed-when sh.
knows"
shell not believe it."
IF he is wise. he'll plead guilty-hii
solicitor will advise him to do that. /
Is his once chance. !"
Ills one chance?" queried the othel
vaguely.
"Of escaping the gallows. II h
pleads. guilty, many extcnuating cir
cumstances will be admitted-hts owl
spotless reputation-and also intens
provocation. He'll get d life sentence
or even perhaps
But with a loud oath. the most forci
Bile one he had ever uttered in his life
Colonel Harris had jumped to bis fee