Forest City press. (Forest City, Potter County, D.T. [S.D.]) 1883-19??, 1912-04-25

OE' .HA ",.'I
that did not hurt as they fell.
Outside the weather was indeed
lrosy and commonplace. Rain was
coming down in torrents II beating
against the newspaper Kiosk over h
way. ON the roofs of tramWlys and
~taxi-autos. making the electric light
peep dinily through the veil OF wet,
drowning. by its incessant patter. to
which the gusts OF a November gale
made fltful. il loud. accompaniment,
the shouts OF the cochers on their boxes,
the rattle of wheels on the stone pave
incnt. even at times the shrll whistle
for cabs cmanating from the porch Of
he brilliantly lighted Palace Hotel.
1T was close on llalf-past 6 by the
clock of the Care dl lord opposite.
The express from Ostcnd had just come
in-vcry late. of course, owing 10 the
sale which had delayed the mail boat.
Louisa, s%training her eyes. watched the
excited crowd pouring out of the sta
ton I'm the wake of portcrs and OF piles
of luggage, jahbering. shouting and
fussing like an army of irresponsible
pigmies; men in blouses, and men in
Immaculate bowler hats. women
wrapped in furs. clinging to gigantic
!icadgear that threatened to leave the
safe refuge OF an elaborate couture or
of we'll fixed %gargantuan hat pins. mid
~inettes in fashionable skirts and high
heeied shoes, country women in wool
shawls that tapped round their bulky
forms like tho wings of an overfed bat,
all hnrrying and jostling n another
III II mac endeavor to avoid the on
rush of the innumcrable ta~xi-autos
which in ~ulcountable numbers wound
IN and out of the slower moving traffic
like tho erratic thread OF some living.
tangled skein.
Just the everyday prosy life OF a
small but ambitious capital struggling
I'M inc midst or nm nlvNnCf ~, ~
sense OF responsibility toward the whole
OF Europe In view Of its recent great
colonial expansions.
Louisa gave an impatient sigh.
Even the strong ones of the earth
get wearied of the daily round. the
common task at times. She and aunt
We're due to dine at the British en-
bassy at s o'clock; it was only half
past 6 now and obviously impossible
TO SIT another two hours in this unre-
Sponsive MOTEL room in the of
red velvet chairs and the bronze PSYCHE.
Aunt, I'm conjunction with her maid.
annette. was busy laying the founda-
lions OF an elaborate toilet. Louisa
was free to do as she pleased. She got
q serVlceable ulster and Il dimfnutiye
hat and salliet forth into the streets.
She did not want to think or to dream.
nor perhaps did she altogether wish
to work off that unusual feeling of ey-
element which had SO unaccountablv
transformed her ever since I.uke's letter
had come.
All she wanted was to be alone and
10 ONE out OF herself for awhile. She
had been alone all the afternoon. save
for that brief half hour when aunt dis
cussed the obvious over a badly brewed
cup of tea; 1T was not that kind Of
'a!one-ncss' which Louisa wanted now.
out rather the solitude which 8. crowd
ed street has above all the power to
give. w
There is a kind Of sociability in any
room, De 1T ever SO uncomprumising In
the matter of discomfort. but a crowded
street can be unutterly lonely. either
cruelly SD or kindly as the case NAV he.
TO Louisa Harris. the commonplace
society girl, accustomed to tea fights.
to dances n to dinner parties. the
ionsIilless OF this crowded little city was
eminently welcome. With her dari,
ulster closely buttoned to the throat.
the small hat tied under her chin, with
everything on her weather proof and
questionable, She attracted no notice
from the passersby.
Not n head was turned as. with
a long breath OF delight. she sailed
iorth from under the portico OF the
hotel out into the muddy. busy street:
not one glance OF curiosity or interest
so freely bestowed in the streets of
foreign capitals on a solitary female
!ngure. - 1t DO young and comedy. fol-
this very ordinary looking Eng
ls,h miss.
To tho crowd she was Indifferent
Ihese men n ONE hurrying along.
pushing. jostling and s%currying knew
nothing OF Luke. nor that she. Louisa
Harris. was the happiest woman on
earth.
She turned back toward the Boule-
ward. meaning to take a brisk walk all
along TIM AYnYoyln nf fWooo ~r1>S.l ~->3..
q circuit round the inner part Of the
town and which ultimately would lead
her back to the Care du Nord and the
Palace hotel. 1t was q walk she had
often done before: save for one or two
busy corners on the way. 1t would be
fairly solitary and peaceful.
Louisa stopped out with an honest
British tread. hands buried in the pock-
eta OF her s~erviceable ulster. head bent
against the sudden gusts OF wind. She
dId not mind the darkness OF the I'M
lighted. wide boulevard, and had every
OF covering the two miles in
2 nttle more than half an hour.
How the time sped! It seemed az II
she 2 only Just loft the hotel. and
already surely not q quarter OF q mile
away. ahe could SEQ glimmering the lights
OF the Place Namur. the half way point
Of her walk.
She was In the Boulevard Waterloo
where private houses with closed porte
cocheres add nothing to the municipal
lighting Of the thoroughfare.
Trans had been rushing past her In
endless succession: but now there was
= lull. Close by her q taxl-auto whisxed
quickly past and came to 4 standstill
some 100 yards away. near the pave
ment and not TAR from an electric light
standard.
Louisa. with vacan eyes attached on
VhAt AAH hent .~3th -hAA -&-A.A-AA - =
particular room In particular house
In a0llarA ware slNA6 n man