The Bon Homme County independent. [volume] (Tabor, S.D.) 1904-1913, 1912-10-03
CHAPTER XXxvI.
PEOPLE DON'T DO THAT SORT OF.
THING.


Lady Ryder was out of town. She
vas staying at a country house in the
Midlands, ch~aperoning her nices-
Louisa's twin sisters-but Sir Thomas
Ryder was at home.
1t was for him that Louisa had asked
when the butler opened the door In
answer to her ring.
Sir Thomas is in the library, miss"
said h a twill you come into
the drawing room, and I'll tell Sir
Thomas you are here, miss?" r
No. she said, don't announce me.
I'll go to the library"
Sir Thomas put down the paper
which he had been reading, when his
niece entered. He did not seem at all
astonished to see her. No doubt the ex-
ercise of his profession had taught him
never to be surprised at anything in
life. He rose when he recognized who
1t was, and carefully folded his eye
glasses and slipped them into their
case and into his waistcoat pocket.
Then he said:
MY dear Louisa, this is quite unex
pected:. Is our father with your"
NO" she replied, II came alone.
May 1 sit DOWN."
Certainly, my dear child" he said
ggenially and himself wheeled a capa-
cious arm chair round to the fire.
Ryder"
mo, no. Take off your cloak. won't
you? 1 was only looking at the eve
ming paper, preparatory to turning in
early"
She glanced at the paper on the
table; that page was uppermost that
bore the startling headline, in unusu-
ally large type: "The Murder in the
Taxicab. Sensational Developments"
The chief OF the criminal investigation
department studied the accounts In the
newspapers, the opinion Of pressmen
and reporters. Everything interested
him; he weighed everything in his
mind; no silly advice, no empty title
tattle was ever dismissed by him with
out Its due need Of consideration.
Uncle and niece now sat opposite
each other, facing the hearth. He
locked straight into the fire, knowing
that she would not wish him to see
the misery in her face.
"Will you have something, Lou?" he
asked kindly. "A cup of tea Or ONE
thing?"
mo. thank you, uncle. We had din
ner and father has gone to the club.
/ came to g you about Luke"
"Yes?" he said. A. =.
"All along" she continued, "ever
since father saw o yesterday, /
wanted to speak to you. Silly conven-
IIOHdiity kept me paCh
1T certainly is not usual" he be-
gan.
NO." she broke in quickly, 81 know
II is not. But this is an unusual case,
far too serious for silly ideas Of tact
or convention to creep in. The man
whom I love best in all the world is
falsely accused of a most abominable
crime. He was arrested-by your Or
ders / suppose-about an hour ago"
Hn nNtt nm his hand sp pnnfla damn
cation.
stop a moment, my DEAR" he said
quite kindly, but very d~ecisively. III
you have any idea at the back Of your
head, that j, personally, have any in
fiuence at my command with regard
to Luke de Mountford's fate, then the
sooner you get that idea out of your
head the better. If you came here to-
night with the notion that by plead
ing with me you could save Luke from
the consequences of his crime, then get
that notion out of your head, my dear,
and save us both from q very pain
full interview. Luke de Mountford was
not arrested by my orders; 1 am only
an automaton Of the law, which takes
it's own course without any personal
interference on my part. Officially, I
us an auton1aton-did just as duty
and the law of this country directs.
Personally, ] ent through your father
some sound advice to Luke de Mount
ford"
She listened, impassive and silent, to
to- his reproof, and then said simply:
II beg your pardon, Uncle Ryder, !
must have expressed myself badly, !
knew quite we'll that you, personally,
bear no animosity against Luke; why,
indeed, should you2 I had no inten-
ton whatever, in coming to see you
tonight, Of making a scene of lamenta-
ton and duplication. On the con-
trary, I knew quite well that-acting
from the best of motives-you advised
Luke to fly from Justice, since in your
opinion his condemnation II a fore
gone conclusion. Father hadn't the
chance Of passing your advice on e
Luke, because when we got to Fairfax
mansions, Edie told us that he vas
packing up his things, meaning &c
catch the night boat to Calais"
Then why the dickens did he miss
his train?" exclaimed Sir Thomas
gruff1y.
1T was not altogether his fault
she replied. "Our arrival delayed him
q little, but he would have had plenty
OF time even then. only the police came
you see, and II was too late"
II know. IT was silly. officious blum
dering on the part OF one OF my subs
Imeant de Mountford to have plenty
OF time to get away, and I could have
managed It somehow to leave him UNI
y AL XVI